We discuss with an expert which products are really effective for disinfection.
In recent days, antiseptics have disappeared from both store shelves and pharmacies. But the deficit is not a hindrance to our citizens. In the hands of the most inventive, the WHO instruction for health workers on how to make a sanitary product on their own fell into the hands of the most inventive, and now, in stores at the checkout, people share their best practices in combating coronavirus. When my grandmother was buying vodka, she explained that forty degrees was needed for a homemade antiseptic. She knows that vodka cannot kill a virus, but her grandson on the Internet has read a good recipe for how to mix vodka and miramistin. How effective are folk recipes for antiseptics in the fight against viruses? "KP" asked for a comment to the expert Pavel Vorozheikin, a dermatovenerologist at the Pirogov Center (Consultative and Diagnostic Center "Arbatsky").
- Pavel Yuryevich, people in the original WHO recipe freely replace alcohol with vodka, glycerin with aloe vera gel. Will it work like an antiseptic?
- If you replace alcohol with vodka and at the same time follow the methodological recommendations of the WHO, then the recipe will already be violated, because the alcohol content of vodka is insufficient. I consulted with my colleague, an infectious disease doctor, surface treatment with a solution with an alcohol content below 70% does not make any sense against the virus.
Therefore, folk antiseptics based on vodka for hand disinfection are ineffective, this is just an extra irritant for the skin. Vodka-based solutions of different compositions can help fight bacteria, but as for viruses, vodka will not kill the virus. The most effective thing you can do for yourself in a coronavirus situation is to regularly wash your hands with soap and neutral Ph. I don't see much point in using antiseptics for personal hygiene. It's another matter if there are open wounds on the hands, then yes, you need to pay special attention to them and at least not contact the wounded area with dirty surfaces.
- There are also folk recipes based on alcohol, chlorhexidine and miramistin.
- If you mix alcohol with chlorhexidine or miramistin, you will, of course, get an antiseptic. Just what do you want to achieve by this? It is better to just treat the surface with alcohol, because if the alcohol is diluted with another substance, then the percentage of alcohol in the solution is reduced, and, accordingly, the antiseptic properties are lower. Understand that WHO has clear recommendations for health workers, and if we add something to the recipe ourselves, we do not know how the chemicals will interact at the compound level. This can be both ineffective and quite dangerous.
- What can you say about recipes from the Internet, where the composition contains entirely essential oils. Will there be any effect from them?
Promotional video:
- Some cosmetic companies do make products in which essential oils are claimed to have antiviral effects. I think the internet is just trying to replicate this recipe. I am skeptical about this.
- Dr. Komarovsky, in his YouTube video channel, remembered such a remedy as "Whiteness". Recommends to dilute it with water and process the door handles with this solution at home, floor.
- Whiteness is a chemical solution, very caustic. It was used in the Soviet Union to bleach linen. How to dilute this chemical with water, in what proportions, it is even difficult for me to imagine. Should they disinfect at home? What if the house has good flooring? You can ruin it badly. But what if this solution gets on the unprotected skin of a person's hand through a treated doorknob? A person can suddenly get contact dermatitis like that. If you have already decided to handle door handles at home, it is better to rinse them with soapy water.
CORRECT, WORKING RECIPE
How an antiseptic is made that actually works.
Official prescription from the World Health Organization.
Disinfectant can be prepared in two ways. To make 1 liter of antiseptic, you will need:
Option 1
830 ml ethanol (concentration 96%) *, 40 ml hydrogen peroxide (3%), 15 ml glycerin (98%), 115 ml of distilled or boiled water.
* The prescription is primarily intended for healthcare professionals who have access to medical alcohol. It is not freely sold in Russia.
Option 2
750 ml of isopropyl alcohol (99.8% concentration) **;
40 ml hydrogen peroxide (3%), 15 ml glycerin (98%), 195 ml of distilled or boiled water.
** But this alcohol is used as a solvent for varnishes, paints, you can buy it in hardware stores. But it is categorically impossible to use inside!
How to cook
1. Pour the alcohol into a bottle or container with a screw cap.
2. Add hydrogen peroxide using a beaker (measuring cup).
3. Add glycerin (before pouring glycerin into a glass beaker, rinse it with distilled or cooled boiled water, since glycerin sticks strongly to the glass).
4. Add distilled or cooled boiled water.
5. Immediately close the container with a screw cap to prevent evaporation.
6. Stir the solution by shaking gently.
7. If the container is large, it is better to pour the antiseptic into small containers, such as plastic bottles. So the solution is more convenient to use. Quarantine vials for 72 hours before use. This will allow time to destroy the spore forms of microorganisms that may be present in the vials.
OKSANA NARALENKOVA