HOSPITAL superbugs thrive on sweat, say Danish researchers. They have found
that some antibiotics “leak” out of the body in sweat, and believe that bacteria
on patients’ skin become resistant through unrelenting exposure to the seeping
drugs. Simple physical contact would then be enough to pass on the bugs.
Niels Høiby and his colleagues at the University of Copenhagen suggest that
doctors might have to limit the use of the most leaky antibiotics. These include
two widely used beta-lactam antibiotics called cephalosporins.
Høiby and five other volunteers took five common antibiotics in turn. He then
measured how much…
