Epidemics are raging around us. When we wash our hands, we don't just flush viruses down the drain - the main work is done by the fatty substances contained in the soap.
Posters on the wall, news broadcasts on the radio, a doctor in a television interview - during the coronavirus epidemic, everyone says the same thing: "Wash your hands!" Already annoying, right?
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spreads the COVID-19 infection incredibly quickly, but overall, the virus is quite vulnerable and dies easily. The researchers recognized soap as the best weapon against this virus.
"Virus death" is a relative term, because viruses never actually live. Without metabolism and its own cellular structure, there is no living being. Separated from another organism - for example, from yours - the virus cannot multiply.
Therefore, he needs to find a new host cell.
Coronavirus hits massively
The virus is carried through droplets of mucus in the air or on the arm. It then hits doorknobs, railings, or other surfaces that a large number of people touch.
Promotional video:
If SARS-CoV-2 behaves like other coronaviruses - which has not yet been fully proven - then, according to the World Health Organization, it can persist on hard surfaces for several hours. At favorable temperature and humidity, the virus can remain on the surface for several days.
The virus does not spread on soft surfaces, WHO reports.
The virus spreads through surfaces more easily than directly from one person to another. SARS-CoV-2 is heavy, so it does not stay in the air, but quickly settles to the ground - unlike, for example, the measles virus.
The one-meter distance, which everyone is now advised to observe, is too much distance for the virus if an infected person sneezes or coughs exclusively into a handkerchief or sleeve.
On the other hand, SARS-CoV-2 is massive. At its peak, the virus is spreading a thousand times faster than the related viruses that caused the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003, according to a new German study.
This explains the speed with which the COVID-19 epidemic is now spreading.
Soap is the best solution, alcohol antiseptic comes second
Once in the hands of a new person, the virus can easily enter the body through the face. Studies show that people touch their face 20 times an hour or more. The eyes, nose and mouth are a direct route for the virus to the “new home”.
Once in a new cell, the virus turns it into a kind of "copying machine", which "makes several copies" of the virus and eventually dies.
This chain must be broken before it is too late. Washing your hands thoroughly is the best way.
Little is known about ways to reduce the risk of contracting coronavirus, but earlier studies reported that the risk of transmission of infections by airborne droplets is reduced by hand washing by 20%.
When we wash our hands, we don't just flush viruses down the drain: soap molecules also weaken those viruses that do not remain on our hands. Fortunately for humans, SARS-COV-2 is just one of those viruses that soap helps fight. For example, things are different with the polio virus.
The secret of soap is in its fats
With the help of a protein in the envelope, the SARS-CoV-2 virus enters the cell and becomes fixed inside. When the protein shell and soap interact, the second wins. The shell is destroyed.
It is important to lather the soap well. The water temperature does not matter. In order to kill germs with water, you need boiling water. On the other hand, warm water is better: it spreads the fatty substances of the soap faster than cool water.
Alcohol antiseptic has a different effect. Alcohol in its composition weakens the chemical characteristics of the protein membrane, can disrupt the membrane and destroy the genetic material responsible for the activity of the virus.
When buying an antiseptic, you should study the label: as studies say, to defeat the virus, the alcohol content in an antiseptic must be at least 60%.
However, the antiseptic is inferior to soap in terms of effectiveness. The effectiveness decreases primarily because many do not wait for the antiseptic to dry, and are already starting to do something with their hands. An antiseptic won't help very dirty hands either.
WHO recommends using an antiseptic as an alternative to soap only when it is not possible to wash your hands.
Anniina Wallius
