When keeping hands clean to help avoid getting sick, what’s best? Using soap and water or hand sanitizer?
You could do what healthcare professionals do.
“Alcohol-based hand sanitizer (minimum 60% alcohol) is really what is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said Pam Farrare-Wilmore, director of Infection Control and Prevention at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, about healthcare settings.
Alcohol is antibacterial, and the alcohol residue has a lasting kill effect.
In everyday settings, washing hands with soap and water is the best way to get rid of germs. If soap and water are not readily available, using hand sanitizer is appropriate.
- DC-area schools tweak schedules in response to coronavirus
- Coronavirus tips: Use common sense, don’t panic over DC-area cases
- Coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Coronavirus FAQ: What you need to know
- Closings and delays
- How federal agencies are preparing
- Sign up for news alerts from WTOP
“Hand hygiene is the single most important way to prevent disease transmission. And so, we must do it correctly and we must do it frequently,” Wilmore said.
Does it matter what kind of soap you use? No.
“If you’re using an antibacterial, antiseptic soap, then it has a kill effect. However, if you’re using plain soap, you’re really removing that bacteria, that biofilm, that’s on your hands, off of your hands,” Wilmore said.
Whether using sanitizer or lathering up with soap, Wilmore said you have to be thorough. After wetting hands and applying soap, wash up by rubbing vigorously for at least 20 seconds.
Spots not to miss:
- Backs of hands
- Palms of hands
- Between fingers
- Individual fingers
- Under fingernails
- Wrists
Should you use a paper towel to turn off the faucet or open the door of a public bathroom after hand washing?
Wilmore is among experts who recommend the practice, and while the CDC says there isn’t much scientific evidence about it, the CDC’s “What You Need To Know About Handwashing” video states, “If you are concerned about getting germs on your hands after you wash them, you can use a paper towel to turn off a faucet or open door handles.”
Wilmore said it doesn’t matter whether you’re at home, at the movies, at the mall or in a grocery store, personal hygiene should be top of mind, regardless of where you might be, because “It helps save lives.”
WTOP’s Liz Anderson contributed to this report.
