Destroying viruses

Alcohol attacks and destroys the envelope protein that surrounds some viruses, including coronaviruses. This protein is vital for a virus’s survival and multiplication. But a hand sanitizer needs to be at least 60% alcohol in order to kill most viruses.

Hand sanitizers with less than 60% alcohol were also found to be less effective at killing bacteria and fungi and may only reduce the growth of germs rather than killing them outright.

And even hand sanitizers containing 60% alcohol can’t remove all types of germs. Studies have found that hand washing is more effective than hand sanitizers at removing norovirus, Cryptosporidium (a parasite that can cause diarrhoea), and Clostridium difficile (bacteria which cause bowel problems and diarrhoea).

With shortages leading some people to try and make their own hand sanitizers, it’s also important to know these might not be as effective as commercially available products.

DaManal Mohammed, Lecturer, Medical Microbiology, University of Westminster

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.