[dbingham]

You are over generalizing while also making appeals to emotion based upon your (admittedly terrifying, painful and difficult) experience. I'm sorry you had to go through that and hope life gets better for you.

But applying that emotional appeal to this argument is not valid. Yes, some bacteria are symbiotic in certain environments but extraordinarily dangerous if they escape into other parts of the body. There are particular gut bacteria that are especially notable in that regard. But there are thousands of species of bacteria that live in all parts of our body. The vast majority of these are harmless or even helpful, period. If they find themselves in an environment that isn't the specific niche they evolved for, they die.

While I haven't seen the research on the particular species discussed in the article, it is entirely possible (I would say likely) that it is one of those. Rather than one of the species that can wreck havoc if it escapes its proper environment.

[jrabone]

For hopefully the last time, I'm not talking about the bacteria in the product. All human beings defecate. Many (most?) clean themselves afterwards with their hands. If you do not practise adequate hygiene with a surfactant-based cleanser, those faecal bacteria are still stuck to the skin afterwards and transfer to anything you touch, where they may be picked up by someone else who is not in a position to deal with them. This is not an appeal to emotion, it is a fact which I happen to have had personal experience of.

[dllthomas]

And again, the article doesn't speak clearly to handwashing specifically. It would seem that ideally, if someone believes in this kind of thing, the appropriate behavior when faced with handling something likely loaded with bad bacteria (which cleaning after defecation would include) would be to subsequently clean your hands with soap and hot water, and then reapply the N. eutropha.