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And as a bonus – herpes. Cosmetic testers can lose even…vision!

And as a bonus – herpes. Cosmetic testers can lose even…vision!

Probably, there is no woman who from time to time choosing cosmetics, would not use testers of lipsticks, mascaras, powders.
However, this is how you can get serious infectious diseases. Researchers at Jefferson College of Medicine in Pennsylvania, USA, who analyzed cosmetic testers in several major retailers, found that their samples contained a large amount of Escherichia coli, as well as the herpes virus, staphylococci and streptococci. In fact, women infect each other with dangerous diseases.
So, we can find out what can be “picked up” from the testers by Volodymyr Kozko, professor, head of the Department of Infectious Diseases of Kharkiv National Medical University, and Zhanna Prykhodko, cosmetologist-dermatologist of the highest category.

−Can cosmetic probes really be a danger?

V. Kozko:
−And what! In fact, viruses and infections that have a household contact (through unwashed hands, hygiene items) can also be transmitted through testers. After all, one sample is sometimes used by several people, and even if only one person had the infection, others are at risk.
For example, E. coli can cause stomach upset, colitis, diarrhea, inflammation of the abdominal organs. And streptococcal and staphylococcal microorganisms are dangerous because they cause intoxication of the body, cause inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx, ears, bronchi and lungs. Among cocci, there are many pathogenic species that cause diseases such as meningitis or pneumonia, and other species cause wound suppuration and dermatitis.

J. Prikhodko:
−Everyone has their own “set” of microbes, to which they are accustomed. But when they get to another person, these microorganisms can cause disease. For example, very often women who use testers get a “bonus” in the form of herpes. Even if a healthy woman has used lipstick from the outside before, she may be a carrier of the herpes virus, or it may be in an inactive form – and then infection is inevitable.

“Microscopic demodectic mite can be transmitted through mascara”

−What other danger lies in the testers?

J. Prikhodko:
−They can transmit skin diseases caused by coccal flora – dermatitis, rashes, osteofolliculitis. This is especially true of powders, when several women used one brush. After all, this is a matter of personal hygiene, and in the case of mass use it should be disinfected by special means or sterilized with infrared light, which in stores, of course, is not done.
Fungal lesions can be transmitted through probes (powders, creams) – such as herpes zoster, caused by a yeast-like fungus that parasitizes in the stratum corneum of the epidermis. But, for example, a microscopic demodicosis mite can be transmitted through mascara, which parasitizes intradermally, in hair follicles and sebaceous glands, as well as in eyelashes. This mite causes inflammatory eye diseases, which can worsen or even cause vision loss.

−And what to do?

J. Prikhodko
−I recommend not to use probes at all: cosmetics are a purely individual thing. Or choose those stores that offer disposable mini-samples – if cream, then a mini-tube, if lipstick or powder – with individual sponges.
In addition, if you have cracks on your lips or fingers, sores or abrasions on the skin, which are the gateway to infection, you should refrain from using cosmetics at all.

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