You might not see it until the child reaches eight or nine years of age, but after that, he could develop a host of allergies, and this is preventable if you allow the immune system to develop naturally. Early sensitization to ordinary bacteria, on the other hand, resulted in much lower allergy rates. Hopefully, results will be negative. However, with continued use of antibacterial products, there is a good chance that the microbes will increase. Antibiotic-resistant microbes are no more virulent than ordinary bacteria, wrote Levy in the March 1998 Scientific American .
Resistant bacteria gain defense mechanisms by borrowing genetic material from other bacteria.
Similarly, resistance could be put into play in the ordinary household fortified with antibacterial products leaving a residue behind. That residue continues destroying ordinary bacteria, but it gets diluted and becomes less active. However, the residue is still capable of affecting microbes. Resistant forms could appear by mutation or by acquiring genetic material, resulting in a proliferation of resistant bacteria on kitchen countertops, floors or in other places, Levy said. Now is the time to adopt the 'precautionary principle' with antibacterial products.