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posted by cmn32480 on Friday November 20 2015, @02:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the ruh-roh dept.

The BBC reports that the world is on the cusp of a 'post-antibiotic era'. A new mutation of bacteria in China has something "dubbed the MCR-1 gene", that prevented colistin - the antibiotic of last resort - from killing bacteria.

Chinese scientists identified a new mutation, dubbed the MCR-1 gene, that prevented colistin from killing bacteria.

The report in the Lancet Infectious Diseases showed resistance in a fifth of animals tested, 15% of raw meat samples and in 16 patients.

[...] Resistance to colistin has emerged before. However, the crucial difference this time is the mutation has arisen in a way that is very easily shared between bacteria.

There's plenty to blame - pumping livestock full of them for "preventative measures", doctors prescribing them for colds and flus, and people not finishing a course when they are prescribed them - but the future currently looks bleak.


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  • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday November 20 2015, @07:07PM

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 20 2015, @07:07PM (#265913) Journal

    Warm water is more effective than cold water because oils dissolve more easily in warm water. It also drys out the skin faster, so you need to use oils afterwards to prevent rough skin, which makes you MORE succeptible to bacteria. This is also why soapand water is more effective than just water. I'm quite skeptical of the value of anti-bacterial soaps, except in special circumstances. It strikes me as an evolutionary pressure we don't want to be applying, so we can kepp the anti-bacterials for where they're really needed. Alcohol is more reasonable, but again needs to be followed by hand cream.

    Another reason warm water is more effective is because people are more willing to use it.

    P.S.: Please note I did NOT say "hot water". Injuring the skin is not a good idea.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Yog-Yogguth on Saturday November 21 2015, @04:45PM

    by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 21 2015, @04:45PM (#266228) Journal

    Yes the anti-bacterial soaps and skin cream/moisturizers are completely counterproductive for most people in most situations, even when they "help". It's good for those cases where they're actually needed although I can't think of any off the top of my head for the anti-baterial soaps (cheap sterile one-use disposable gloves are great) and most creams and moisteurizers are snake oil and/or cosmetics, most of them are very harmful but not harmful enough to be illegal.

    Except for harsh soaps (and shower gels, shampoos etc. which are about the worst of anything and applied using your hands) I'm wondering if perhaps most skin dryness (that isn't from other causes) comes more from poor drying than anything else: air drying doesn't amount to much and encourages drying out the skin to evaporate off all the water, paper towels are almost always too rough and abrasive while simultaneously being flimsy and again encouraging over-use, and soft fabric towels (which are the best for drying) are avoided in most public places because too many people don't wash properly in the first place and wipe most of the dirt off on the towel(s) rather than down the sink.

    The east asian (Japanese only?) thing about carrying your own small "drying hankerchief" for use after washing your hands in public places is probably something that should be copied by the rest of us.

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