Nov 3, 2009 8:46 am US/Pacific
Does Hand Sanitizer Kill H1N1?
MINNEAPOLIS (CBS) ―
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Hand sanitizer may be the hottest fashion accessory of 2009. Sales are up 70 percent compared to 2008, according to Nielsen Company. (File)
MYCHELE DANIAU/AFP/Getty Images
Hand sanitizer may be the hottest fashion accessory of 2009. Sales are up 70 percent compared to 2008, according to
Nielsen Company. However, does hand sanitizer work to kill the H1N1 flu virus?
"All hand sanitizers depend on you using them correctly, but they would easily be able to kill the influenza virus," said Dr. Pat Schlievert, a microbiology professor at the University of Minnesota medical school.
"You need to rub until it's dry. If that doesn't happen then it's not going to be effective," he explained.
According to Schlievert, sanitizers need at least 60 percent alcohol to work and almost all of them have that, reports CBS station WCCO-TV. There are new Alcohol-free hand sanitizers on the market that use Benzalkonium Chloride, and Schlievert said that is also an effective way to kill the flu virus.
"There are probably 400 of these ... kinds of molecules [that are FDA approved] that will kill flu virus. This would be one of them," he explained.
Researchers haven't found any problems with the high-percentage of alcohol being absorbed into the skin, but it can be flammable.
Most influenza is transmitted through air droplets, according to Schlievert, so hand sanitizer is just one tool to try to limit the spread of the virus. However, research done at the University of Minnesota shows that "the virus can survive a day or two on a shiny object like a door handle," he said.
However, when the virus is on a human hand it only survives about five minutes.
"It's what you do in that five minute period" that matters, said Schlievert. Most people touch their faces quite often, and if the flu virus is on your hand, and then wipe your hand on your face, you can become infected.
Researchers have not found alcohol-sanitizers to have many downfalls. They don't cut through dirt or blood, and they don't kill e.coli, but otherwise they are effective in killing germs, and germs are not (so far) able to develop a resistance to the alcohol.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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