Doctor gives verdict on Olympian’s claim about ‘microdosing’ E.coli

A doctor has urged people not to stop washing their hands when they go to the toilet after an Olympic athlete claimed he was doing just that.

Chris Eades, an infectious diseases consultant in Manchester, said he was dismayed to hear this unorthodox method given airtime by a Team USA triathlete. 

‘You can’t immunise yourself to E. coli by being exposed to it,’ he told Metro.co.uk. ‘It doesn’t work like that.’

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‘If people follow that advice and don’t practice normal good hygiene practices, for example after going to the toilet or handling food, they risk exposing themselves to bacteria that could harm them.’

The warning, which you may be surprised to hear is necessary, comes after US athlete Seth Rider caused hand-wringing over comments about the polluted River Seine, where the swimming section of the Paris triathlon was held yesterday.

Rider, who came 29th, told reporters beforehand: ‘In preparation for this race, I knew there was going to be some E.coli exposure. So I’ve been trying to increase my E.coli threshold by exposing myself to a bit of E.coli in day-to-day life.’

Asked how he had exposed himself to more bacteria, Rider said: ‘It’s a proven method, backed by science.

‘It’s just little things, throughout your day. Like not washing your hands after you go to the bathroom and stuff like that.’ 

Dr Eades, who has treated patients admitted to hospital with bloody diarrhoea from E.coli, said: ‘If I knew him, I’d say “that’s a bit unwise”.’

After the comments went viral (no pun intended), Rider shared a video showing him thoroughly washing his hands and giving the thumbs up, indicating he hadn’t been entirely serious when he shared his method with the world.

But Dr Eades wasn’t entirely convinced.

He said: ‘We all joke about things, but I think when someone prominent makes a statement and these things feed into the public discourse, messages can get mixed up. So I think it’s important to put it in context, while taking the comment in good humor.’

The men’s triathlon had to be postponed due to rainy weather that made water quality too poor. At one point, it was feared the swimming section wouldn’t be able to go ahead in the river at all, meaning it would become a duathlon in a ‘farcical’ change of plan.

Just in case anyone does consider microdosing E.coli, it’s a bad idea for two reasons.

The first is that it just doesn’t work, and the second is that forgoing hand hygiene can put you at risk.

‘E.coli is a bacterium that is in all of our guts, in human guts and in animal guts as well,’ Dr Eades said. ‘Most strains are pretty harmless but there are strains capable of producing toxins and making us unwell.’

The sheer number of strains is one reason you’d be unlikely to get protection from microdosing.

E.coli bugs can cause severe issues from sepsis to pneumonia, but the main illness you might get from river swimming is diarrhoea, after swallowing infected water either directly or from putting your hand to your mouth. 

Even if you just get a tummy bug, it probably won’t help you go any faster in a timed Olympic event. 

In the worst case, you could get seriously ill: so keep washing your hands, please.

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