Busting myths around the use of hand sanitiser to prevent coronavirus

Fears around coronavirus have seen hand sanitiser fly off the shelves, but it doesn’t work in every situation. Here’s what you need to know.

Bottles of hand sanitiser have become an essential item for many Aussies but it won’t necessarily protect you from coronavirus if you don’t use it the right way.

There have been many myths circulating on social media about hand sanitiser, including that it won’t protect you from viruses because it is an antibacterial treatment.

“Hand sanitiser is antibacterial. The coronavirus is a virus,” a now-deleted viral post from gamer Jasmine Joestar said.

“A bacterial and a virus is not the same. Wash your hands. Sanitiser will do nothing for the coronavirus.”

The tweet was signed: “A scientist that is tired of this sh*t.”

But infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy of Sydney University said this was “wrong”.

“Hand sanitisers are effective and useful on viruses,” he said.

There are however, some circumstances that hand sanitiser won’t work.

Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist in Canberra, told news.com.au that if your hands are visibly soiled or dirty then any disinfectant doesn’t work as well.

“If anything is dirty then clean it first and then disinfect,” he said.

“It’s a similar principle for surgical instruments and medical equipment.”

If your hands are not visibly dirty then the hand sanitiser will work by itself.

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Hand sanitiser is selling out amid the coronavirus outbreak. Picture: Ted S. Warren/AP

While some have been worried that cheaper sanitisers won’t work as well as more expensive versions, Prof Collignon said they were just as effective but they may take longer to work depending on their concentration of alcohol.

Sanitisers generally have an alcohol concentration of between 60 and 95 per cent.

Washing your hands with soap and water is just as effective as using hand sanitiser and Australians are being urged to do this regularly to reduce their risk of contracting coronavirus.

“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,” Prof Collignon 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.

Excess hand washing and use of hand sanitiser can irritate your hands.