Comment by Chumgrinder

Entered on: 5/25/2006 7:27:37 AM

Influenza is extremely sensitive to any hand soap (antiviral or otherwise).

Kewl... where do I find "antiviral hand soap?" I've only ever seen the antibacterial kind. It sounds like a great thing to have.

Comment by Fascist Nation

Entered on: 5/26/2006 9:23:36 AM

Good point. My bad. I will probably go back and correct this, time permitting. So far the marketing departments haven't gotten around to adding the moniker "antiviral" to their hand soaps.

Soaps are extremely disruptive to many, but not all, viruses. They dissolve those exposed viruses that have membranes within seconds, and will denature (radically alter the 3 dimensional organization) of many viral proteins, permanently killing their activity.

Not to mention the fact that soaps will carry virus particles off of the skin's surface or home or workplace surfaces, including viruses no otherwise effected by soaps.

The influenza viruses are uniformly sensitive to any hand soap (almost always sodium laurel sulfate) on the market. Soaps and detergents are synonymous for the purposes of this discussion.

Alcohos such as ethaol and isopropanol (rubbing) are also quite effective in both deactivating influenza viruses on a surface, and removing them from the surface. [Can't say how effective ethanol is antivirally, when taken internally, but a couple of shots of single malt always makes me feel better.]

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Comment by Fascist Nation

Entered on: 5/26/2006 9:48:55 AM

It occurs to me in the case of influenza viruses, there are alcohol based hand cleaners that are considered more effective than antibacterial (or other) soaps. I suspect medical/hospital supply companies (and some large pharmacies) carry them, along with disposable gloves (pick neoprene based -- you don't worry about latex allergies, and they have longer shelf life), and N-95 masks.

You can use rubbing alcohol, but it has to be followed by a good hand creme with frequent use, or your skin will start to crack.