To say... it's a fucking VIRUS

[ArtisanBreadBin]

The number of posts on here about how the NHS have recommended "antibac" no they haven't. I wipe it with "antibac" why would you. I can't find any "antibac" handwash, you don't fucking need it.

AIBU to hope that people can learn the difference between a fucking virus and a bacteria. If it was a bacteria it would be called CORONA fucking BACTERIA!!!!

In any case "antibac" is a waste of time and money, use soap and water. FML.

People have come down hard on the OP because she thought she was the only clever clogs to realise Coronavirus is a virus 😂

What an unnecessarily rude op!

There’s always one idiotic, patronising and ill mannered imbecile!

It isn't pointless. 1.) Coronavirus is an encapsulated virus 2) High ABV alcohol (as in hand sanitizer) kills encapsulated viruses. The reason it's often ineffective is because encapsulated viruses (eg. norovirus) are resistant to everything except bleach.

@HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend your attitude contributes to the problem. Sadly the only person who can help, is you.

The active ingredient is a surfactant that breaks it down - so stopping it entering the host as it's been destroyed.

Thanks for explaining it Chromalungma. But...how do we know that the surfactant in the spray is sufficiently strong to do that? Someone up thread seemed to say that not all surfactants will work? Eesh, so hard.

@ArtisanBreadBin but... how soapy is soapy? Do you need to wipe the bubbles away with a different cloth? And how often do you return the cloth to the soapy water before you consider it contaminated? How big is the bowl of soapy water? Is it a pain to cart from room to room to do all the surfaces?

Also with most sprays, you need to spray the surface and leave it for at least 20 seconds to allow the product to activate before wiping. Spraying the wiping straight away is pretty useless in most cases...

Coronavirus is an encapsulated virus

The reason it's often ineffective is because encapsulated viruses (eg. norovirus) are resistant to everything except bleach

Isn't Norovirus harder to kill because it has a capsid that makes it much harder to kill compared to Coronaviruses?

Whereas with Coronavirus, it's the lipid layer that's relatively easy to destroy

But...how do we know that the surfactant in the spray is sufficiently strong to do that? Someone up thread seemed to say that not all surfactants will work? Eesh, so hard

Coronavirus shouldn't be a very hard virus to kill.

It's just got a lipid membrane around it. So a decent disinfectant should be able to destroy it - if it's made up correctly if it's being diluted.

Milton solution, that's what I've been using at work to spray on surfaces that I have to share with others. Specifically says Coronavirus and MRSA are killed by it

But 'decent disinfectant' is a bit vague chomalungma - am non-scientist and have no idea for eg whether Asda multipurpose surface cleanser is a disinfectant at all, let alone a decent one! Sorry to be dim, can you explain what to look for on the label?

Milton solution is basically sprayable bleach.

This anti-bacterial spray from Asda says its anti-bacteria

groceries.asda.com/product/cleaning-spray/method-antibacterial-all-purpose-cleaner-wild-rhubarb/1000109748227

It also contains surfactants. Which means I would be confident to use it against viruses.

Another weird thing I discovered - 70% iso-propynol alcohol is appaz more effective than 90%

It's because the lower concentration can permeate the cell membrane of bacteria. A very bad, non scientific, inaccurate analogy but a useful way to visualise it would be that you can't sieve mashed potatoes easily but if you mixed the mashed potato into water it would be easy.

Also, the higher the alcohol %, the faster it evaporates.

Asda anti-bacterial wipe

groceries.asda.com/product/cleaning-wipes/asda-multi-surface-antibacterial-wipes-lemon/1000000984889

Contains surfactants

The Dettol laundry liquid we bought months ago in bulk buy says on the label it kills the corona virus but is called anti bacterial laundry liquid.

Me gets the impression she don't like the word 'anti-bac' right?

@MissDollyMix this is rubbish sorry, we have very, very strict labelling and testing laws for products in this country and in the EU, if you read there packaging and more importantly the data sheet online it will tell you which viruses the product has been tested against, the testing is very stringent and they can’t make the claims without it. My Dad and uncle are industrial chemists uncle owns a chemical manufacturing plant.

The testing is very expensive though so they don’t test everything and if they don’t they test something specific they can’t make the claim on that particular pathogen. However there’s lots chemicals that will inactivate viruses as well as natural extracts like Lactic Acid. Some will need a longer ‘kill time’ to be active but they all work on enveloped viruses (which is what Corona is) in the same way - by breaking down the outer fatty membrane of the virus. Coronavirus has not been released for any kind of commercial testing yet and won’t for sometime, given it’s an enveloped virus though it’s a very good assumption that a product which works on other enveloped viruses especially a virus from the same family will work on Coronavirus. chlorodexadine, Benza Chloride products, Hydrogen Peroxide, Alcohol and Lactic Acid have all been proven as antiviral in the right concentrations. And like someone said if something has been tested and proven to work against Noro i would be confident it would work on Covid-19 as Noro is a right b*stard, as is Listeria.

I just can't understand how people don't realise it's a virus even though it's in the name.

You actually think people hear Coronavirus and don’t know it’s a virus? Or do you think because they use the shorthand of “antibac” to describe cleaning products or hand sanitizer, they must think it is a bacterial infection? You may (or may not) be a whizz in microbiology but you seem to struggle with the way people use language.

It’s like when I use bathroom cleaner in my kitchen. I don’t actually think my kitchen is a bathroom, I just know the stuff in the bottle will do the thing I need it to regardless of the name written on it.

Antibacterial hand gel contains 70% alcohol and therefore kills viruses too. It's also more convenient than carrying round a container of water and a bar of soap when, say, you are in the middle of Asda. That's why people use it. HTH...

I have to say that I haven't worked as a scientist for a long time - but the basics of this never leave you.

Such as lipid membranes and all that! RNA and DNA. A bit like riding a bike. But what they can do now though with technology, visualising the proteins etc - amazing

I do miss it a lot though. Especially at the moment.

@Dowser How did you bring that high alcohol content liquid back from Tenerife? Surely that is not allowed on planes due to flammability?

@chomalungma so what's your point. You want to tell everyone that anything that says "antibac" will kill Coronavirus? Crack on.

@SoftSheen hand gel isn't the only thing tat proclaims itself to be "antibac". HTH.