A dusty home may influence a babies gut

[xchrom]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428624.800-a-dusty-home-may-influence-a-babies-gut.html

IF YOU thought the bacteria that line our gut were pretty personal, think again. They influence our digestion, risk of disease, and even our behaviour. Now it seems we might be sharing these gut bugs with the people around us - via dust.

James Scott at the University of Toronto in Canada and his colleagues investigated the bacterial make-up of faeces from 20 three-month-old babies, which represents the bacteria in their gut flora. The group then compared the faecal bacteria with bugs found in dust samples collected from each baby's home.

They found a significant overlap in bacterial communities in a baby's faeces and dust from their home. This suggested that a baby may be sharing their gut bacteria with the environment and vice versa. Scott presented the findings at the International Human Microbiome Congress in Paris, France, last month.

"There are lots of skin microbes in dust, but we don't expect gut bacteria to be able to escape," says Scott. This was especially surprising since most known gut bacteria thrive in oxygen-free environments and die in the air, says Scott.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. I've been unsuccessful in finding the article

but I read recently of an outbreak of infections in some hospital among surgery patients that turned out to be e coli. It was traced, ostensibly, to a flatulent anesthesiologist who was passing gas in more ways than one. That surprised me, as I also thought gut bacteria couldn't survive in an oxygen-rich environment.

[kestrel91316]

2. I can't for the life of me envision flatulence as a means of transmitting E. coli, particularly

the only E. coli strain of importance, Shiga-toxic E. coli. The anesthesiologist likely got a bad rap.

It's not airborne. Period.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. I don't work in the medical field

but I'd likely complain about having to work around a guy like that. I'd try to keep my complaints rooted in reality, however.

[gkhouston]

4. Agreed, but it would give a whole new meaning to "silent but deadly". n/t