Afia Ohemeng
In the second week of March, when things were fairly normal and drivers were drinking akpeteshie to build their immunity against the novel Coronavirus, I was still going to work.
The hygiene routine at work was to wipe down the door handles with disinfecting wipes made by yours truly. The next step was to wipe down bags, laptops, stationary and basically anything that popped out of your bags. After wiping, you had to make your way to the kitchen to give your hands a good scrubbing. Anytime anyone stepped out of the office, you had to repeat the process.
I remember reaching out for a tissue and letting out a much needed sneeze. The next thing I heard was my colleague shouting :
I remember rolling my eyes, disposing the tissue into my open bin (wrong) and then pumping a healthy dose of hand sanitizer into my palms. With that, he seemed a bit relieved as we laughed the sneeze off.
But did I really protect my coworkers ? Spoiler- I did not!
Your hand sanitizer will not kill cold and flu viruses.
Japanese researchers conducted a new study which shows that smearing an ethanol-based hand sanitizer quickly onto your palms or hands will do very little to kill anything after you sneeze.
In the study, the researchers placed harvested wet mucus from people who had been infected with influenza A into the fingertips of (certainly brave) volunteers. A hand sanitizer was applied next.
Even when the hand sanitizer was left on their fingers for a chilling 120 seconds (2 minutes ), the influenza A virus did not die. It was only after four minutes that the virus was deactivated to a level which was not infectious.
What about previous studies?
Hand sanitizers were certainly in use before the global pandemic. Offices had huge pumps and others had pocket-bacs. All those who purchased most likely acquires them to keep safe from other germs. Does this mean their efforts were futile?
The results of this new study are certainly controversial as it is in huge contrast to numerous studies that also showed that ethanol-based disinfectants were truly effective against the spread of most germs.
Well in some of those studies, the sanitizers worked better than running water and soap because *drumroll* people do not wash their hands properly or even long enough to kill germs.
Another reason for the difference in results is because previous studies were conducted on the flu virus that had dried on the hands of the participants. New research (by Dr. Ryohei Hirose) has shown that, the thicker the mucus is, the longer the virus is protected.
Amazingly, volunteers that rubbed the sanitizers on their hands which had fully dried mucus had their visitor virus killed within 30 seconds of application.
What works in any situation?
The best way to attack the wet or dry flu-infected is the basic soap and water. Remember to wash your hands under running water and soap right after you sneeze and also dispose of your used tissue in a bin with a well secured lid.
