Rinsing your BCD with antibacterial flush?

[nolatom]

I just use a little Listerene. So whether I'm dead, alive, or even infected with BCD crud, I'll have minty breath. We have to keep our priorities straight here.....

 

[mattia_v]

Disclaimer up-front: I am a medical doctor, but I am not a microbiologist.

I'm basing my position on a pair of Health Council of the Netherlands advisory reports from 2001 and late 2016 (governmental advisory body, recommendations based on current evidence and made by experts in the field) which underlines the lack of evidence for disinfectant use within the home. There are some indications that it can generate resistance in bacterial strains, and may even engender antibiotic resistance. Unless there is a medical indication to do (immune compromised status), the health counil explicitly recommends against routine use of disinfectants in the home. So I carry that over to other material I use in the home / recreationally. I don't breath out of my BCD, I keep it clean and dry (and rinsed), so it's not exactly a prime location for fungal growth, and we all inhale stray aspergillus spores every now and then anyway. One additional breath's worth won't make a difference for me, and the reading I've done on disinfectants makes me extremely wary of believing they will - at low concentrations and brief contact times - sufficiently eliminate a percieved threat. So I err on the side of conservativism in this area.

At work (in the hospital), I wash my hands with soap and water between patient contacts if exposed to bodily fluids / visibly contaminated. Sanitize between all other patient contacts. But we do not sanitize after washing hands, because in patients with normal immunity, handwashing with regular soap and alcohol santization is equivalent (national guidelines, consensus of experts based on evidence). The spore / colony count is reduced by alcohol disinfection, but there is no evidence it prevents disease in healthy individuals.

For my home, some bleach-based toilet cleaners are used, but the rest of the bathroom doesn't get doused in bleach or other disinfectants top to bottom. General purpose detergent works just fine. Work surfaces in the kitchen, ditto, with cloths getting washed (machine) or discarded after use. I have color-coded cutting boards to avoid cross-contamination, but I don't disinfect them, and I don't disinfect my knives or hands (water and soap works just fine). We live in a world of bacteria, and neither I nor anyone in my family has ever fallen ill due to lack of disinfectant use on kitchen work surfaces. I suspect the oven / stove is disinfected due to the aggressiveness of some of the cleaning agents, but I use those to get rid of the dirt, not anything else, and the heat takes care of the rest.

I think cultural differences also play a role - Americans seem to be more enamoured of sanitizing and disinfection and the myth of a bacteria-free environment than we are over here. If I stored my gear in high humidity and high heat, I might think and act differently, but for now, I see no need to prevent a risk I don't believe is clinically relevant.

 

[uncfnp]

Disclaimer up-front: I am a medical doctor, but I am not a microbiologist.

I'm basing my position on a pair of Health Council of the Netherlands advisory reports from 2001 and late 2016 (governmental advisory body, recommendations based on current evidence and made by experts in the field) which underlines the lack of evidence for disinfectant use within the home. There are some indications that it can generate resistance in bacterial strains, and may even engender antibiotic resistance. Unless there is a medical indication to do (immune compromised status), the health counil explicitly recommends against routine use of disinfectants in the home. So I carry that over to other material I use in the home / recreationally. I don't breath out of my BCD, I keep it clean and dry (and rinsed), so it's not exactly a prime location for fungal growth, and we all inhale stray aspergillus spores every now and then anyway. One additional breath's worth won't make a difference for me, and the reading I've done on disinfectants makes me extremely wary of believing they will - at low concentrations and brief contact times - sufficiently eliminate a percieved threat. So I err on the side of conservativism in this area.

At work (in the hospital), I wash my hands with soap and water between patient contacts if exposed to bodily fluids / visibly contaminated. Sanitize between all other patient contacts. But we do not sanitize after washing hands, because in patients with normal immunity, handwashing with regular soap and alcohol santization is equivalent (national guidelines, consensus of experts based on evidence). The spore / colony count is reduced by alcohol disinfection, but there is no evidence it prevents disease in healthy individuals.

For my home, some bleach-based toilet cleaners are used, but the rest of the bathroom doesn't get doused in bleach or other disinfectants top to bottom. General purpose detergent works just fine. Work surfaces in the kitchen, ditto, with cloths getting washed (machine) or discarded after use. I have color-coded cutting boards to avoid cross-contamination, but I don't disinfect them, and I don't disinfect my knives or hands (water and soap works just fine). We live in a world of bacteria, and neither I nor anyone in my family has ever fallen ill due to lack of disinfectant use on kitchen work surfaces. I suspect the oven / stove is disinfected due to the aggressiveness of some of the cleaning agents, but I use those to get rid of the dirt, not anything else, and the heat takes care of the rest.

I think cultural differences also play a role - Americans seem to be more enamoured of sanitizing and disinfection and the myth of a bacteria-free environment than we are over here. If I stored my gear in high humidity and high heat, I might think and act differently, but for now, I see no need to prevent a risk I don't believe is clinically relevant.

I *think* we are agreeing more then disagreeing. You use bleach selectively in your home just as I use disinfectants selectively. In addition to the bathroom however I also use it in the kitchen. I do spray/wipedown the sink and prep area when I work with any raw meat and most specifically poultry. I will also agree that we as Americans have become germaphobes for the most part including the current fad of carrying hand sanitizer on our backpacks/purses. (but I will confess to carrying hand sanitizer when travelling some of the Caribbean countries).

Exposure to routine pathogens is actually healthy and helps develop the immune system, especially in the young. It is the more virulent pathogens, not the opportunistic, that concerns me in my home.

Edit. And FWIW the gel in the office is provide as an alternative to washing when appropriate. Remember too that handwashing olny works when done correctly, something the patients (and unfortunately too many healthcare providers) are not also consistent in application.