Coronavirus stays on skin for 9 hours, alcohol disinfectant key
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The virus that causes COVID-19 can survive on human skin for about nine hours and is five times more durable than the influenza A virus, say researchers at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.
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Their findings were published Oct. 3 in Clinical Infectious Diseases, an American medical journal.
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Previous data showed that the novel coronavirus still has the potential to infect even two or three days after coming into contact with plastic and metallic surfaces.
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Its “longevity” on human skin is a new finding.
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The researchers applied the novel coronavirus and the influenza A virus in 100,000 or so batches of each to human skin donated for medical research and examined the change in the number of viruses.
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It took one to two hours, or a median value of 1.8 hours, for the influenza A virus to vanish, while the novel coronavirus became undetectable after a period of between six to 11 hours for a median value of nine hours.
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When the team applied disinfectant with 80 percent ethanol, the novel coronavirus level on the skin dropped significantly after 15 seconds and then became undetectable.
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Ryohei Hirose, a doctor of gastroenterological medicine who led the team, said, the research “once again verified the risk of contact infection and the importance of alcohol disinfectant as infection prevention.”
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The researchers recommend that people sanitize their hands and fingers and avoid touching their eyes, mouth and nose as hands are a hotspot for the novel coronavirus.
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The health ministry says washing hands is “the most important anti-virus measure.”
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Washing hands with water for just 15 seconds reduces the number of novel coronaviruses to a hundredth, the ministry said.
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Washing hands thoroughly with soap for 10 seconds and rinsing them with water for 15 seconds reduces the number of viruses even further to 1/10,000.
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After washing hands, there is no need to use a hand sanitizer, the ministry said.
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The research paper can be read here: (https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1517)
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