First, disclosure: Jessica Snyder Sachs is a friend. But even if she weren't, I'd be writing about her new book, Good Germs, Bad Germs. Jessica, a science and health writer, spent a few years researching and writing about antibiotic resistance, a new health crisis that has been making headlines recently with the epidemic increase in staph infections.
Some scary facts: More people may die from staph infections than from HIV. Hospitals are rife with antibiotic-resistant infections. And, many of those products--dish washing liquids, hand wipes, etc--that advertise themselves as antibacterial cleansers will actually lower your resistance to infections. I learned this from hearing Jessica speak at her book party and also from reading her new book.
The positive here: Jessica does outline some positive research developments that will strengthen our immune systems and move us away from this dangerous overuse of antibiotics. Stumble It!