What are malacidins? Drugs from dirt

"Recently, NIH-funded researchers discovered a new class of antibiotics, called malacidins, by analyzing the DNA of the bacteria living in more than 2,000 soil samples, including many sent by citizen scientists living all across the United States [1]. While more work is needed before malacidins can be tried in humans, the compounds successfully killed several types of multidrug-resistant bacteria in laboratory tests. Most impressive was the ability of malacidins to wipe out methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infections in rats. Often referred to as a “super bug,” MRSA threatens the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year [2]."

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2018/02/20/powerful-antibiotics-found-in-dirt/

http://www.drugsfromdirt.org/DrugsFromDirt/news/

The microscopic world within us

"Thousands of species of microbes—bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa—inhabit every internal and external surface of the human body. Collectively, these microbes, known as the microbiome, outnumber the body’s human cells by about 10 to 1 and include more than 1,000 species of microorganisms and several million genes residing in the skin, respiratory system, urogenital, and gastrointestinal tracts. The microbiome’s complicated relationship with its human host is increasingly considered so crucial to health that researchers sometimes call it “the forgotten organ.”

Disturbances to the microbiome can arise from nutritional deficiencies, antibiotic use, and antiseptic modern life. Imbalances in the microbiome’s diverse microbial communities, which interact constantly with cells in the human body, may contribute to chronic health conditions, including diabetes, asthma and allergies, obesity and the metabolic syndrome, digestive disorders including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, research shows." 

Read at AACC (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)

This article says that 10 to 1 figure is a myth.  If you have 30 trillion cells, you'll only have 39 trillion bacteria.
Nature.

   

Tools.

Of particular interest is fecal transplantation, a procedure in which stool is transferred from a healthy donor to an unhealthy recipient (perhaps the same person, in the case of autologous stool transplant). This procedure has been 90–95% effective for treating Clostridium difficile-associated disease versus only 20–30% efficacy for antibiotics. Understanding which other diseases associated with dysbiosis of the microbiome could be corrected remains a major goal of microbiome research. The current regulatory framework in the United States, regulating stool as a drug and requiring an investigational new drug (IND) application for any application other than C. difficile, however, is a substantial barrier to research. Understanding more generally how various therapies including antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics (essentially, fertilizer for the microbiome), phage therapy, etc. can reshape the microbiome remains a major technological and theoretical challenge.

The CDC doesn’t mention the bacteria in reusable bags

CDC is investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella infections linked to chicken.

CDC’s food safety steps recommend which of the following to prevent foodborne illness from raw poultry? Find the answer here! http://go.usa.gov/4MQA:
A) Wash hands with warm soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling raw poultry.
B) Cook raw poultry to 165°F using a food thermometer.
C) Refrigerate food promptly.
D) Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other food in your grocery shopping cart and in your refrigerator.

But they don’t mention the importance of washing the reusable bags—they are loaded with bacteria.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/rosenwald-md/post/your-reusable-shopping-bags-are-full-of-bacteria/2011/12/06/gIQA32nYZO_blog.html

Sanitizer on my shoe

Given a choice, soap and water is a much more effective way to fight germs than a hand sanitizer. However, I keep a small pump bottle of the alcohol hand cleaner in the cup holder of my van for quick clean ups. The last time I bought one the pump top wouldn't unscrew and my empties were the wrong size. This morning at the store I passed the shelf with the hand cleaners and I picked one up to put in the cart. But I wasn't going to be fooled, so I tested the top to see if it would unscrew. It did--getting a small amount on my hand. So I attempted to screw it back down, and a small amount squirted to the floor, so I tried again, and a giant splat hit my shoe. Well, I don't know if it kills 68% of common bacteria, but it will certainly take the shine off your shoe!

Washing Hands With Soap vs. Hand Sanitizer: Which Is Better? - ABC News

Smells yummy

Many years ago we went out for dinner with Sam and Molly, Tom and Pat. New Year's Eve, I think. Molly and I went to the ladies' room. She told me something I've never forgotten. She was an RN and was told during her training that the soap dish was the germiest place in the hospital/home/office. I doubt that hospitals use soap dishes any more, but we do have them in our homes, and it does make sense--dirt, plus moisture, plus air. Here at the lake I have a cute little row boat shaped soap dish. However, I enjoy using a commerical pump soap container, too. I suspect the ones you fill from a container are probably also contaminated. My hairdresser, the fabulous Melissa, told me once not to add water to shampoo because bacteria would grow. Gosh, the world is full of germs, isn't.

Anyway, I love the fragrance of Softsoap Black raspberry and vanilla. Yes, this is an endorsement, although not paid. Bloggers need to watch out for that. Not sure which czar is coming after you, but you're going to be one of the non-rich who will be taxed or punished for product placement on your site if you don't tell your readers (Mommy bloggers, beware). Generally, I don't use anti-bacterial soap--just the suds and water and scrubbing.

Interesting article on hand sniffing monitor in hospitals to reduce nosocomial infections.

This little piggy went to market with Salmonella

Pigs raised without antibiotics are more likely to carry bacteria and parasites, according to a new study done at Ohio State University's Vet school.

While consumers are increasing demand for pork produced without antibiotics, more of the pigs raised in such conditions carry bacteria and parasites associated with food-borne illnesses, according to a new study.

A comparison of swine raised in antibiotic-free and conventional pork production settings revealed that pigs raised outdoors without antibiotics had higher rates of three food-borne pathogens than did pigs on conventional farms, which remain indoors and receive preventive doses of antimicrobial drugs.

More than half of the pigs on antibiotic-free farms tested positive for Salmonella, compared to 39 percent of conventionally raised pigs infected with the bacterial pathogen. The presence of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite was detected in 6.8 percent of antibiotic-free pigs, compared to 1.1 percent of conventionally raised pigs. And two naturally raised pigs of the total 616 sampled tested positive for Trichinella spiralis, a parasite considered virtually eradicated from conventional U.S. pork operations. http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/porkfarms.htm

Let's not forget the Silent Spring fall out. More Africans have died from malaria since environmentalists took DDT off the market for mosquito control than ever died in the trans-atlantic slave trade. Lots of "natural" things can kill you. Mold, for instance. Nothing more resilient and natural than a bacteria strain or raging virus.