Superbug fights back against hand sanitisers

• Autores: Alice Klein
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3165, 2018, pág. 7
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • A dangerous strain of bacteria has found a way to resist hand sanitizers. These alcohol-based sanitizers were introduced to many hospitals in the early 2000s to fight the spread of drug-resistant superbugs like MRSA and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. Although the bacteria had evolved resistance to antibiotics, it was assumed they wouldn't be able to do the same for alcohol, which kills them much faster. When they studied 139 samples collected from Melbourne hospitals between 1998 and 2015, they found that the more recent bacteria were 10 times as tolerant to alcohol than the older ones.