Sanitizers May Help Stop Germs

Most Helpful Against Stomach Ailments In Families With Young Kids

(WebMD)  The comparison families received only nutritional information and were told not to use a hand sanitizer.

Researchers followed the families for five months and tracked rates of hand washing, use of hand sanitizers, and whether anyone in the household had developed a respiratory or GI infection and if the illness had spread within the family.

The results, which appear in the current issue of Pediatrics, show that both groups of families reported similar rates of hand washing.

But the families given hand sanitizer had a 59 percent lower rate of gastrointestinal illness spread from one family member to another. This held true even after adjusting for other factors that increase the spread of such infections, such as the number of young children in the household.

The rates of respiratory illness were similar in both families.


Day Care Infections

Researchers say that children enrolled in day care are at high risk for respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, which they can transmit to other household members.

Washing hands frequently with soap and water is effective at stopping the spread of infection, but alcohol-based hand sanitizers that do not require water may be a convenient alternative for parents who cannot get to a sink when caring for sick children.

Sources: Sandora, T. Pediatrics, September 2005; vol 116: pp 587-594. News release, Children's Hospital Boston.