Disinfectants could effectively train bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics, research suggests.
Scientists know bacteria can become inured to disinfectant, but research increasingly shows the same process may make it resistant to certain drugs.
This can occur even with an antibiotic the bacteria has not been exposed to.
The latest study, which focused on a bacteria common in hospitals, calls for a rethink of how infections are managed within healthcare settings.
Scientists from the National University of Ireland in Galway found that by adding increasing amounts of disinfectant to cultures of pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lab, the bacteria learnt to resist not only the disinfectant but also ciprofloxacin - a commonly-prescribed antibiotic - even without being exposed to it.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8427399.stmIf this sounds like a big "DUH!", try re-reading that fifth para again. Bacteria treated with drug A eventually became resistant not only to that drug, but to the much more sophisticated & selective drug B, which they had NOT been treated with previously.