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Researchers discover that hand sanitizers must be rubbed for 15 SECONDS to kill the bacteria that hide on your palms
- World Health Organization recommends to apply the disinfectant for 30 seconds
- But 15 seconds were found to be as effective as 30 seconds in "reducing the number of bacteria"
- Health care workers often struggle to "integrate hand hygiene into their busy routine"
Many of us rely on hand sanitizer to keep us "germ free" at a festival, a tube or while eating their lunch.
But while most are just rubbing a drop in their hand and continuing their day, one study suggests that gels are only effective if they are applied thoroughly for 15 seconds.
Although it may seem unnecessary, it is actually half as complex as the World Health Organization opinion, which recommends applying a hand sanitizer in a six-step process 30 seconds.
Hand sanitizers can only be effective when they are rubbed for 15 seconds, according to a study (stock)
The research was conducted by the University Hospital Basel and led by Dr. Sarah Tschudin-Sutter, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Hygiene.
Scientists say that hand hygiene is the most effective thing that health care workers can do to reduce the spread of infectious diseases.
The WHO states that disinfectant is the "preferred route" because of its "speed, efficiency and tolerance to washing by washing with soap and water".
However, there is little evidence on the most effective "hand gel technique", they warned.
The WHO recommends to get an alcohol-based product for 20 to 30 seconds, but it has been shown that the adhesion to this product was mediocre.
At first, he advises to apply a quantity of "complete" gel.
You must then rub your hands palm against palm before placing the right hand on the left hand and intertwine the fingers.
This process should then be repeated with the left hand on the right.
The palms should then be rubbed with intertwined fingers.
In the fifth step, the back of the fingers should be rubbed against the opposite palms, just as the thumb should be covered in the disinfectant.
Once the hands are dry, they are "safe".
To test whether this long process was necessary, the researchers used 20 volunteers aged 18 to 51 to apply a hand sanitizer using four techniques.
The first group followed the WHO treatment regimen for 30 seconds, while the second group completed the same process, but only 15 seconds.
The third group followed a three-step process for 30 seconds and the fourth group the same abbreviated process for 15 seconds.
After each application, the researchers analyzed the number of bacteria on the participants' hands.
The results revealed that 15-second rubs were as effective at reducing the number of bacteria as the 30-second process.
The results will be presented in full at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Amsterdam.
Although 15 seconds may seem like a lot to an average person, the researchers hope that their study will be good news for health care workers.
"Time constraints and heavy workloads of health care workers reduce compliance with hand hygiene standards," said Dr. Tschudin-Sutter.
"Our findings suggest to shorten the time of hand rubbing and simplify the technique of using disinfectants could be a safe alternative, easier to integrate into their busy routine, could improve the overall quality of performance. hand hygiene and have a positive effect on compliance. & # 39;
The researchers point out, however, that the study was conducted in the laboratory and that, therefore, different results can occur in a clinical setting.
They also looked only at how hand sanitizers reduce bacteria and not other pathogens, such as viruses.
MEDIUM WORKER IN CONTACT WITH 10 MILLION BACTERIA CAUSING DISEASE
Millions of us spend our days working on a keyboard. But more than 10 million bacteria hide between the keys, hidden in the mouse and nestled in your phone, 400 times more than on an average toilet seat.
Unhygienic working conditions are a key factor in the 131 million workdays lost each year in the UK and millions more in the world, including colds and flu.
Bacteria and viruses can multiply on hard surfaces and remain contagious until 24 hours, told MailOnline, Dr. Lisa Ackerley, a health expert and visiting professor at the University of Salford.
She said the average office is fertile ground for infections, before inviting people to disinfect their desk, phone, keyboard and computer mouse.
She added that better cleaning and hygiene measures could result in "far fewer days of illness".
Now, a new infographic highlights the harsh reality of the importance of detoxing your office.
It shows that one in five workers can not clean their work space before eating, while two out of three eat lunch at their desks.
Twenty percent of people never clean their computer mouse, while nearly 80% of common infections are transmitted by touch.
A new infographic shows that a typical office worker comes in contact with 10 million bacteria every day at his office. On average, the keyboard hosts 7,500 bacteria and 20% of all workers never clean their mouse.
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