Hand gels are anti bacterial, not antiviral. What am I missing?

[Poetf]

It just occurred to me, why do we have to antibac our hands everywhere we go, when the gels are not anti viral, so presumably useless against the virus?

It’s not a daft question at all.

Yup...anything over 70% alcohol is able to kill coronavirus.

I was just speaking to a friend who’s working in this area. It’s apparently a pretty ‘easy’ virus to kill - so 70% alcohol is effective.

manufacturers have done all the necessary regulatory tests to show it is effective against most/99% bacteria - so it’s able to be labelled as ‘antibacterial’

Some viruses will be killed with 70% alcohol but some won’t - it’s much more of a mixed bag. So manufacturers generally don’t go down the route to get their products regulated to be ‘anti-viral’.

Apparently manufacturers can’t label the 70% antibacterial gels as anti-coronavirus gels though, because when you start making claims about being effective against a specific virus/disease it could be classified as a treatment - which is a whole other raft of regulatory hoops to jump through.

Surely it’s because let’s face it some people are manky and still won’t be washing hands and the gel, hopefully will help a bit. That’s why we hand gel everywhere.

With the touching of trollies/ baskets and card machine buttons, we need to try and keep people’s hands clean.

Clean hands, well clean ish can’t be a bad thing.

@MintyMabel

They indicate a high level of knowledge in a very, very specific area. In my life, I've not seen any correlation between intelligence and holding a PhD.

But they also indicate that someone is capable of doing very basic research to find an answer to something.

To be honest, everyone with the capacity to post on Mumsnet can search on Google. PhD or no PhD.

all this has brought to light how ordinary standards have slipped over the last few decades.
that people have to be told/ reminded to wash their hands when they come in the house, before eating etc and other basic hygiene practices.
i have seen it myself irl, and been shocked, the lack of awareness, and i would say, correct up-bringing.

@Slightlybrwnbanana

You advanced searched me? I'm flattered. Come on, from a grown-up it was a pretty daft question!

I have to say, I hope that you don't say the same thing to your students for things you 'deemed' to obvious to them.

I personally don't care if the OP has a PhD of has barely scrapped her GCSE. I'd rather see someone understand better why we are asked to do something.

Btw, yes the 70% alcohol gel will kill the virus. But so is soap and water (actually soap and water IS better!).
Its just that alcohol gel is easier to have everywhere so people think about cleaning thier hands regularly.

Also worth remembering that we now now thet fomites (what is found on surfaces and have the virus in) is actually NOT the main way the virus is transmitted. So yes wash your hands. But much more importantly wear a mask!!

Alcohol hand gel is meant to be useless against Norovirus though...

Hand washing with soap and warm water is much better at killing Norovirus.

Caught what felt like Noro in Feb.....After eating a takeaway ''hand held'' snack without washing my hands with soap and water first.

Alcohol gel is no protection. {granted, not Corona, but still a nasty-ass virus}

@alexdgr8

all this has brought to light how ordinary standards have slipped over the last few decades. that people have to be told/ reminded to wash their hands when they come in the house, before eating etc and other basic hygiene practices. i have seen it myself irl, and been shocked, the lack of awareness, and i would say, correct up-bringing.

I remember going into McDonalds with my mum for the 1st time in the late 70s and she was appalled at people eating with their hands after coming in straight from the street.

And ventilate your indoor spaces.

I have to say, I hope that you don't say the same thing to your students for things you 'deemed' to obvious to them

I'd expect PhD level students to be able to google, so I probably would.

I do actually have a PhD so your patronising comment has fallen flat

Clearly not in keeping up to date or performing internet searches, this was done to death in March.

If you can AS for poster's occupations why did you not use it to find the 000s of previous posts about this?

OP, ignore @Slightlybrwnbanana The fact that they feel the need to post unpleasant and unhelpful comments to someone asking a harmless question proves that they clearly have too much time on their hands and no idea how to fill it nicely.

@ScaramoucheFandango

And ventilate your indoor spaces.

YY @ScaramoucheFandango

(Love your name btw :()

Hand gels don’t work on norovirus or visibly dirty hands.

I do get annoyed when people talk about “antibac” grrrrr. Nothing beats soap and water.

sorry it was meant to be a :) !!!

Don't worry OP, generally people who feel the need to be sarcastic and derogatory towards someone have issues or something lacking in their own lives. I'd laugh it off and pity that person tbh!

Do you feel the same about people who feel the need to make comments like yours too?

I wish there was a hand gel that also worked on trolls.

DS had Norovirus last week so I did a bit of research. NHS advise anti bac is no good against Norovirus and soap and water are best for hand cleaning. Something to do with encapsulated or non-encapsulated viruses...

For house cleaning - bleach and disinfectant are advised. My infection control must be top notch because no one else in the house got it, including me who had to do all the clearing up, cleaning, laundry etc. Lots of disposable rubber gloves used. Not very environmentally friendly but I just couldn't risk a dose of Noro- it's hideous.

To be honest, everyone with the capacity to post on Mumsnet can search on Google. PhD or no PhD.

You’d think so.

It needs to be at least 60% alcohol to destroy coronavirus. Norovirus is quite hardly and needs soap and water to be destroyed ideally. I’m a nurse.

@Purpledaisychain

OP, ignore *@Slightlybrwnbanana* The fact that they feel the need to post unpleasant and unhelpful comments to someone asking a harmless question proves that they clearly have too much time on their hands and no idea how to fill it nicely.

Good grief. I posted "bless". How is that "unpleasant and unhelpful comments"? I should report you for a personal attack tbh. I have been perfectly pleasant to the OP other than one word, and others have been far more "mean" than I.

Doesn't soap and water - all things equal - detach particles and allow them to be washed away into the waste water system, rather than kill them all the time?

Nothing is better than washing hands but the hand gel is also good when you are unable to wash your hands ie when you just left the shop.

just to add, I heard somewhere that hand gel should be exact 70%, no more no less as its not that effective on corona.

but i couldnt find any info on that

‘Bless’ is patronising as fuck but couched in the language of affection one might use to a child

I have anti viral hand foam for winter, also anti viral surface cleaner as I’m paranoid about norovirus. I’ve always carried antibacterial hand gel as well and usually wipes so that if we do eat on the go we can wipe away any dirt and sanitise our hands*. This is all because I’m horribly scared of vomiting! So I had plenty of supplies already back in March when the price of hand sanitiser suddenly rocketed, from my years of buying them to put in every handbag and coat pocket so I’d never be without one! I hope that a good effect we might have from this miserable year is better hygiene habits and maybe things like norovirus won’t be in such high circulation in the future...

(*Yes, I do get eczema on my hands from my excessively thorough approach!)

As someone with a PhD myself, they should not be perceived as an indicator of intelligence. They indicate a high level of knowledge in a very, very specific area.

Intelligence wasn’t what I was questioning. It was the inability to research something. Quite a basic skill when completing a PHD!