The finding belongs to Dr. Amy Paller, a professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and her colleagues. They treated 31 patients, aged 6 months to 17 years old with moderate or severe eczema including a skin infection.

 

Half the children received diluted bleach baths (half a cup of bleach per 40 gallons of water). The remaining had a placebo mixed into their bath water.

 

The participants were instructed to soak in the baths for five to 10 minutes at a time, two times a week for three months. They were also treated with oral antibiotics and the nasal ointment muciprocin to control staph infections.

The researchers found that eczema severity in patients reduced five times as much as those on placebo. However, there was no improvement in eczema on the head and neck - areas not submerged in the bath.

“We've long struggled with staphylococcal infections in patients with eczema. This study shows that simple household bleach, which we think decreases the staphylococcus on the skin, can help these children,” Dr. Paller said.

 

"The eczema kept getting better and better with the bleach bath, and these baths prevented it from flaring again, which is an ongoing problem for these kids. We presume the bleach has antibacterial properties and decreased the number of bacteria on the skin, which is one of the drivers of flares,” she added.