An antibacterial agent widely used in hand soaps could be helping microbes like MRSA beat powerful antibiotics, US scientists have warned.
The substance in question is triclosan. Earlier in the year, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) banned triclosan and another antibacterial triclocarban from use in domestic handwashes after concluding they were no more effective than ordinary soap – but may be contributing to the problem of antibiotic resistance.
Now, research carried out by a team at Washing University in St Louis, has shown that bacteria exposed to antibiotics were 10,000 more likely to survive when were simultaneously exposed to triclosan.
The researchers don’t yet understand how antibacterials reduce the effect of antibiotics. But they say that their research shows that by enabling bacteria to persist in the presence of antibiotics, antibacterials like triclosan may speed up their ability to evolve such resistance.
