Pharmacy Daily | Dispensary Corner 26 Jun 13

HEALTH authorities in the UK are warning people about the disease risks of visiting petting zoos. Public Health England says that so far this year there have been twelve significant outbreaks of illness linked to baby animal rams across the country, with 130 people affected by gastric sickness. Officials are reminding people to wash hands properly using soap and water - particularly children and before eating. “Although we can avoid obvious dirt there will be millions of invisible bacteria spread all around the farm which can get onto our hands,” said Bob Adak, head of gastrointestinal diseases at Public Health England. “We want to remind people not to rely on hand gels and wipes for protection because these are not suitable against the sort of germs found on farms,” he said. silver is a special element, and not just for the way it looks when made into jewellery. US research published this week in the Science Translational Medicine has shown that adding silver to existing antibiotics could make them significantly more effective. According to Jose Ruben Morones-Ramirez from Boston University, experiments in mice showed the metal “disrupts the biological processes of bacteria,” which can make them more susceptible to antibiotics. The findings may help address the rise of drug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections.

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