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Kids` eczema can be treated by Bleach baths |
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According to a new study, the simple household bleach can be an effective treatment for kids` chronic eczema.
Eczema is characterised by severe itching, which is so bad that kids may break the skin from scratching and get chronic skin infections that are difficult to treat, especially from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
The researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have found that diluted bleach baths could provide powerful relief from the problem.
It`s a cheap, simple and safe treatment that significantly improves the rash as well as decreases flare-ups of eczema, which affects 17 percent of school-age children.
The researchers found that if paediatric patients with moderate or severe eczema (atopic dermatitis) are given diluted bleach baths, it would decrease the signs of infection and improve the severity and extent of the eczema on their bodies. The bleach bath offers less scratching, fewer infections and a higher quality of life for these children.
The risk of bacterial resistance especially in children increases in typical treatment of oral and topical antibiotics. Bleach kills the bacteria but doesn`t have the same risk of creating bacterial resistance.
Amy S. Paller, M.D., the Walter J. Hamlin Professor and chair of dermatology, and professor of pediatrics, at the Feinberg School, stated that patients on the bleach baths had a reduction in eczema severity that was five times greater than those treated with placebos over one to three months.
Paller said, "We`ve long struggled with staphylococcal infections in patients with eczema."
She pointed out that more than two-thirds of eczema patients have evidence of staphylococcus on their skin, the bacteria that most commonly causes infection and worsens the eczema.
She added, "This study shows that simple household bleach, which we think decreases the staphylococcus on the skin, can help these children."
The researchers treated 31 paediatric patients (6 months to 17 years old) who had eczema and a bacterial staph infection for 14 days with oral antibiotics throughout the study.
During the study, half of the patients received bleach in their bath water (half a cup per full standard tub) and the other half received a look-alike placebo.
The researchers asked the patients to put a topical antibiotic ointment or placebo control into their nose (where the staphylococcus can also grow) for five sequential days of each month. All of them were asked to bathe in the bleach twice a week, and soak for five to 10 minutes for three months.
Paller further said, "The eczema kept getting better and better with the bleach baths and these baths prevented it from flaring again, which is an ongoing problem for these kids. We presume the bleach has antibacterial properties and decreased the number of bacteria on the skin, which is one of the drivers of flares."
(Posted on : 28/04/2009)
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| Kids` eczema can be treated by Bleach baths |
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