Showerheads may be spraying out bacteria

[Marina]

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http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/328451...ious_diseases/
Showerheads may be spraying out bacteria

1 in 5 tested harbored bugs tied to pulmonary disease, study finds



Your showerhead may deliver more than a refreshing spray of water. New research suggests disease-causing bacteria hide out inside showerheads, hitching a ride to your face and body inside water droplets.

The grimy results come from genetic tests run on samples from 45 showerheads in homes, apartment buildings and public places from nine U.S. cities in five states: New York, Illinois, Colorado, Tennessee and North Dakota.

About 20 percent of the showerhead swabs harbored significant levels of Mycobacterium avium, bacteria linked to pulmonary disease that most often infects people with compromised immune systems, said lead researcher Norman Pace of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Pace and colleagues found that M. avium and related pathogens were clumped together in slimy biofilms that coated the insides of the showerheads at more than 100 times the levels found in municipal waters that are the origins for the showers' water.

Once the pathogen-laden water spurts from showerheads, the bugs can suspend in the air where showering individuals can easily inhale them into the deepest parts of the lungs, Pace said.

For those with immune-compromised systems, Pace recommends changing out your showerhead regularly. Sufficiently cleaning showerheads may prove difficult as they are full of hard-to-reach nooks and crannies. While chlorine-bleach products may remove some bacteria, mycobacteria are resistant to chlorine. He added that microbes attach more easily to plastics, so an all-metal showerhead might be a good investment for the immune-compromised

At the end of the day, Pace doesn't recommend steering clear of the shower. "It's like anything else — there is a risk associated with it," Pace said

[paris]

Another member mentioned a long time ago that they soaked their showheads in bleach once a week.   They are easy to screw off and then soak for a few hours.   

Thanks for bringing this up.        It is little hints like this that help keep us healthy.

[jbrock]

My D nurse gave us a sheet that showed us "how to and why" to soak our shower head and clean our tub/shower with bleach once a week. She even inspected my shower head on my home inspection. I take it not everyone's clinic does this? I will get my sheet out and share if anyone wants to see it?
Joy

[Hemodoc]

This information is actually not new at all. I learned about these issues when going through medical school back in the late 80's. It was significant then most especially for the HIV cases who were developing respiratory diseases through the shower. The bad news is that it is not just the shower head that is the culprit. These pathogens are found in the city water supplies and old pipes. I suspect that there may be little to do on our part to try and correct what is really a system wide problem of multiple types of respiratory pathogens in our water supplies. Cleaning the shower head is fine, but the source is the water itself.

[paris]

Living in the South, you might not believe the rate that mildew grows in damp, moist areas.  I have lived in others states and have never had the problem like I do here.  Especially in the summer.  So bleach is my friend in the bathroom.   It can't hurt to bleach things.  I can't control the water systems but I can control how clean and scrubbed I keep my home.    I know there are germs and bacteria everywhere and we are going to be exposed to lots of things.  We just do what we can.

Keep sharing tips because there are new people everyday looking for hints and suggestions.  Thanks for bringing this up.