title: The frequency of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in homes differing in their use of surface antibacterial agents.
abstract: Antibacterial agents are common in household cleaning and personal care products, but their long-range impacts on commensal and pathogenic household bacteria are largely unknown. In a one-time survey of 38 households from Boston, MA [19] and Cincinnati, OH [18], 13 kitchen and bathroom sites were sampled for total aerobic bacteria and screened for gram phenotype and susceptibility to six antibiotic drug families. The overall bacterial titers of both user (2 or more antibacterial cleaning or personal care products) and non-user (0 or 1 product) rooms were similar with sponges and sink drains consistently showing the highest overall titers and relatively high titers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The mean frequency of resistant bacteria ranged from ≤20 % to as high as 45 % and multi-drug resistance was common. However, no significant differences were noted between biocide users and non-users. The frequency of pathogen recovery was similar in both user and non-user groups.
authors: Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance and The Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA.
authors: Bonnie M
authors: BM
authors: Marshall
authors: Eduardo
authors: E
authors: Robleto
authors: Theresa
authors: T
authors: Dumont
authors: Stuart B
authors: SB
authors: Levy
mesh_terms: D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001900:Boston; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004363:Drug Utilization; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006796:Household Work / Q000379:methods*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009820:Ohio
chemical_list: D004202:Disinfectants