Hand wash or sanitiser: Which one is better to use amid Coronavirus fears?
As hand sanitiser continues to fly off supermarket shelves, an expert reveals how effective it is as misconceptions spread about its usage.
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As the coronavirus death toll rises and infections soar to more than 90,000 globally, millions of Australians are stockpiling alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
Search interest for hand sanitiser on Google has reached an all-time high over the past month in Australia.
Similarly, search interest peaked in the final week of January following the World Health Organisation’s public health emergency declaration (up +630 per cent compared with the previous week).
The surge in demand has seen prices skyrocket as many stores have run out of stock.
Supplies are also being resold online for as much as $40 per 50ml bottle on eBay.
Shoppers have vented their frustrations online with many complaining at having to buy cheaper less-popular brands.
Same situation in Sydney. Chemist Warehouse is selling old stock of Rugby League themed hand sanitiser 😬😂
— Philip Citowicki (@citowicki) March 1, 2020
When you’re desperate for hand sanitiser, but not that desperate pic.twitter.com/L2qREnwXaJ
— Mandy C (@dragonsgirl2010) February 27, 2020
Despite the price or product consistency difference, Professor Peter Collignon, an experienced infectious diseases physician and microbiologist in Canberra, said all alcohol-based hand sanitisers were similar.
Lower alcohol-based hand sanitisers are as effective at fighting germs as those with a higher concentration — the only difference is it may take longer to work.
Woolworths, Coles, Chemist Warehouse, Priceline and Kmart have all run out of hand sanitiser. #coronavirusaustralia
— Priscilla Flett (@FlettPriscilla) February 1, 2020
The ANU specialist, who has worked for the World Health Organisation, said the biggest discrepancy between products was the composition and type of alcohol — ethanol, isopropanol or n-propanol — used.
“It’s a dose response – in other words, the closer you get to the right concentration the quicker and more effective it works but it doesn’t mean 10 per cent less won’t work at all,” he said. It just means it might take 10 per cent longer to work,” Prof Collignon said, adding sanitiser alcohol concentration ranged between 60 and 95 per cent.
Prof Collignon advised against extreme methods to kill germs, such as handwashing with chlorine, and using DIY antibacterial solutions at home which “it might do more harm than good” without the right formulation.
He said handwashing with soap and water – regardless of the type or brand – was as effective as using sanitiser from a store.
Never underestimate the power of the humble bar of soap! 🧼🙌 Washing your hands regularly – either with alcohol-based rub or ordinary soap and water – is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself and others from #COVID19 and many other diseases. pic.twitter.com/hQjMPnnCrn
— World Health Organization Western Pacific (@WHOWPRO) February 21, 2020
“It’s not the end of the world if you miss out on buying alcohol hand rub because washing your hands with soap and water is also very effective – there is not a huge amount of difference,” he said.
“One is just more convenient than the other and contains alcohol.
“You can put it in your pocket and don’t have to be near a sink or basin to use it.”
But Prof Collignon warned against people excessively washing their hands with either cleaning agent.
He said over-usage of soap and water can lead to dermatitis and people should use commonsense.
Yes its the best large data source we have and it shows that spread to close contacts was only 2%. Much lower than i would have expected. https://t.co/b8BzJ8moCt
— Peter Collignon (@CollignonPeter) March 2, 2020
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told Australians who are madly stockpiling items they should get their information from “trusted official sources”.
“It is important to get information from the trusted official sources. That is what I have suggested whether it is through the information line, the incident response centre, not to be responding to what I have seen, some rightly — rather wildly speculative reports out there,” he said.
Australia has led the world with our response to coronavirus. We’re well prepared. We've got ahead, we’ll stay ahead, and together we'll get through this.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) February 29, 2020
“That is not helping anybody for the people running around and making all sorts of wild speculations is not helping anybody.”
Prof Collignon’s comments come as the WHO advised businesses to promote handwashing as well as placing hand-sanitising dispensers in prominent places in the workplace.
“Keep communicating and promoting the message that people need to stay at home even if they have just mild symptoms of COVID-19,” the document read.
“Encourage employees to wash their hands regularly and stay at least one metre away from people who are coughing or sneezing.
“Develop a contingency and business continuity plan for an outbreak in the communities where your business operates.”
Prof Collignon said being vigilant, sensible and following “the basic things we do every winter” was the biggest preventive measures against COVID-19.
“It’s probably very similar to other respiratory illnesses we see every winter but we don’t know yet,” he said.
When to use mask 😷
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 1, 2020
• If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected #coronavirus infection.
• Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing
More https://t.co/4odGgqxAKP#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/1aM8MyaSmF
“So what we need to do is if we are sick we need to keep away from other people.
“Don’t go to work. Don’t travel on public transport. Even at home, keep your distance from other members of your family.
Mortality rate by age. Starts to rise rapidly for those over 50 yrs. Very high deatb rates in diagnosed cases 80 yrs and over. We still don't know true denominator however. Need to wait for serology tests.
— Peter Collignon (@CollignonPeter) February 28, 2020
Still not good answers as to why so few children are infected. pic.twitter.com/iN0TRVhhKn
“Don’t forget to keep your hands clean. Wash them and do not touch your eyes or mouth – 40 per cent of people touch their face at least once every 30 minutes.”
Originally published as Hand wash or sanitiser: Which one is better to use amid Coronavirus fears?