A new study by infection control specialists at UNC Hospitals confirms that the best way to get germs off your hands is with plain old soap and water.
The researchers tested 14 hand hygiene agents plus tap water against specific bacteria and viruses applied to the hands of 62 adult volunteers. Soap and water, or microbial soap and water, proved the most effective at removing viruses and bacteria.
“Based on these findings, I’d put my hands in my mouth after routine sink washing for 10 seconds,” said Emily Sickbert-Bennett, a public health epidemiologist with the UNC Health Care System and the UNC School of Public Health.
The study divided the hand-washing agents into three methods: five waterless alcohol-based rubs, two waterless hand wipes with chemicals, five hand-wash products with anti-microbial agents, plain soap without antibacterials, and tap water alone.
The volunteers rubbed their hands in common, hardy strains of a bacteria and virus, washed their hands using one of the methods for 10 seconds and then measured the quantity of remaining germs.
They repeated the steps 10 times to measure each method’s effectiveness after repeated exposures.
After multiple washes, regular soap and warm water was most effective at removing the virus. For bacteria, anti-microbial soap was the most effective, removing 99 percent of bacteria after multiple washes. Regular soap and water was the next most effective, followed by tap water alone, and then hand rubs, the researchers found.
Hand wipes were the least effective, getting just half the germs.
The germs used in the study are more hardy than the flu virus, Sickbert-Bennett said, so any cleansing method capable of wiping out the test virus is almost certain to be even more effective against flu.
- American Journal of Infection Control.
                                                                                                                                                                                        Dr. Keith & Laurie Comments on Hand Washing
 
Another one of the simple basics of good health is washing your hands in hot water with soap. This has shown to remove up to 99% of bacteria and viruses that can cause illness.
 
Most of the germs that infect us enter either through the mouth, the nose or the eyes. So a simple remedy is to wash your hands regularly before you touch your mouth, nose or eyes and if you are out and have to touch your nose or eyes, use the back of your hand, where the germs have usually not attacked to.
 
Remember when you are out in public, everything you touch is filled with bacteria, viruses and parasites so just wash your hands thoroughly with hot water and soap before going near your mouth, nose or eyes.

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