‘IF IT DRIES, IT DIES’

HAND SANITIZER GOOD OPTION TO FIGHT GERMS

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Sniff , sniff , cough. Sniff , sniff, cough. Ugh. Sniff , sniff, cough. Sniff , sniff , cough.

If these are the sounds you hear at home, at work or at school, you know it’s only a matter of time before you join in on the cacophony of cooties.

Hand washing is the first line of defense, but soap and water are not so travel-friendly. Luckily, the cute, convenient and often perfumed hand sanitizer can be just as effective.

“Unless there is a visible contaminant, it’s the equivalent of washing hands,” Dr. William McGowan, family medicine doctor at FirstCare Family Doctors in Springdale, said of hand sanitizers. “Convenience makes it the go-to.”

Soap and water should be used to remove visible contaminants - any foreign substance on the hand that can be seen with the naked eye.

The job of a hand sanitizer is to remove the germs from the hands, not kill them on the hands, McGowan said. A good phrase to remember is, “If it dries, it dies,” he said.

“With infectious material - cough or sputum - moisture is involved in the transmission.

Alcohol helps dry the hands and remove the moisture. It’s a cleaning agent.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the alcohol content in hand sanitizers must be at least 60 percent for it to be effective.

IS TOO MUCH BAD?

The alcohol in the hand sanitizer can dry out some people’s hands, but that seems to be the only negative effect of consistent use, said McGowan.

Overuse won’t make the germs stronger.

“The virus or bacteria is not responding (to the hand sanitizer). You are just getting rid of it and then it dies on its own,” he said.

Curtis Allen, a spokesman at CDC in Atlanta, said, “no human health consequences have been demonstrated” in the overuse of hand sanitizers.

Doctors, nurses and others in the health care industry use hand sanitizers as often, if not more, than everyday people.

“I don’t wash my hands but three or four times a day,” McGowan said. “I just use the hand gel.”

Hand sanitizer is available at every nurse’s station at McGowan’s office, he said. They also are found throughout most doctor’s offices and hospitals, even in intensive care units, he said.

Right now, during the winter sick season, there is a heightened awareness of germs among the public, but the health care industry is always taking precautions against the next outbreak, McGowan said.

FIGHTING THE FLU

In recent weeks doctors’ offices and emergency rooms in Northwest Arkansas have been clobbered with the fl u and Norwalk virus, McGowan said.

Symptoms of the fl u include a high fever, cough or sore throat, runny or stuff y nose, headaches or body aches, chills, fatigue and nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, according to fl u.

gov. Symptoms of Norwalk virus are stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea and vomiting, according to cdc.gov. Both influenza and Norwalk virus are highly contagious. Hand sanitizers are effective in combating both viruses, McGowan said.

While the alcohol in hand sanitizers is “effective against influenza if used in the appropriate concentration,” Allen said, the best protection against influenza is the fl u shot.

In addition to using hand sanitizer, the CDC also recommends washing hands with soap and water after using the toilet and changing diapers and before eating, preparing or handling food to prevent the spread of Norwalk virus, according to the website.

Life, Pages 8 on 01/30/2013