Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here. This episode is part of
Speaker 1: the miniseries we're doing on some health and safety topics
Speaker 1: surrounding the novel type of coronavirus identified in which causes
Speaker 1: what is therefore being called COVID nineteen. Because everything is
Speaker 1: a little less scary when you understand it better. So
Speaker 1: you're probably aware that with the novel coronavirus outbreak, hand
Speaker 1: sanitizer has gotten very hard to find. However, soap seems
Speaker 1: to still be in good supply. This is a little
Speaker 1: counterintuitive given that to keep yourself safe from this virus,
Speaker 1: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends hand washing
Speaker 1: first and using hand sanitizer only as a backup if
Speaker 1: you don't have access to running water. We spoke with
Speaker 1: Dr Greg Poland, a representative for the Infectious Diseases Society
Speaker 1: of America and professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at
Speaker 1: the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He said proper hand
Speaker 1: washing is the safest, most efficacious, least expensive, and readily
Speaker 1: available method to prevent disease. So why would plain old
Speaker 1: soap and water be more effective against germs than an
Speaker 1: alcohol based hand sanitizer. Poland explained, when you're physically washing
Speaker 1: your hands, you're doing three things. You're removing visible dirt
Speaker 1: and mucus, you're using a soap that decreases surface tension,
Speaker 1: and your physically by friction loosening, removing and washing away
Speaker 1: whatever is on your hand. This includes germs that you
Speaker 1: can't see, and is perhaps particularly effective at stopping the
Speaker 1: spread of some germs like coronavirus. Is because the outer
Speaker 1: casing of these germs is made up of lipids, which
Speaker 1: are fats. Just as soap can wedge itself down between
Speaker 1: particles of grease on a dirty pan and help break
Speaker 1: it up, molecules of soap can elbow into that lipid
Speaker 1: envelope around a microbe and break it apart, thus rendering
Speaker 1: the microbe unable to attack and infect cells. Studies have
Speaker 1: shown that soap and water is more effective than hand
Speaker 1: sanitizer at removing certain viruses in bacteria that attack the
Speaker 1: intestines and respiratory tract. Coronavirus is included, and hand washing
Speaker 1: is especially effective for very dirty hands, such as those
Speaker 1: you get from gardening, playing sports, or wiping the running
Speaker 1: nose with the back of your hand. Poland said, if
Speaker 1: your hands are visibly soiled, hand sanitizer can't get to
Speaker 1: all the skin surfaces, and if your hands have mucus
Speaker 1: on them, hand sanitizer cannot penetrate. Remember, if you have
Speaker 1: the flu for example, influenza viruses will be present in
Speaker 1: your mucus. Several studies have shown that hand washing got
Speaker 1: rid of the flu virus from hands much faster than
Speaker 1: hand sanitizer diad. Okay, so we've gone over why hand
Speaker 1: washing trump's hand sanitizing. But in order for hand washing
Speaker 1: to work, you have to do it properly. You've probably
Speaker 1: seen a billion memes this week about how to do it,
Speaker 1: but let's review the steps for everyone's sake. There are
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of times that people should be washing
Speaker 1: their hands, but probably the most important are before you
Speaker 1: prepare or eat food, after using the bathroom, and before
Speaker 1: you touch your face. Here's the protocol according to the CDC. First,
Speaker 1: wet hands with clean running water. Warm more cold will do.
Speaker 1: Then turn off the tap and apply soap. Lather your
Speaker 1: hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Any soap
Speaker 1: will work. It doesn't have to be antibacterial, and remember
Speaker 1: antibacterial soap won't help keep you safer from viruses than
Speaker 1: regular soap because they're different credits. As you lather in rub,
Speaker 1: make sure to get all the parts of your hands
Speaker 1: the backs, palms, between the fingers and under finger nails.
Speaker 1: Start at your fingertips and work backward. Rub your hands
Speaker 1: for at least twenty seconds. You can hum or sing
Speaker 1: Happy Birthday twice or some other ditty if counting doesn't
Speaker 1: do it for you. The five seconds that most people
Speaker 1: take to wash their hands doesn't get as many microbes off. Afterwards,
Speaker 1: rinse your hands well under running water and dry them
Speaker 1: using a clean towel or with an air dryer. If
Speaker 1: you're in a public restroom, it helps to use a
Speaker 1: paper towel to turn the faucet off and to open
Speaker 1: the bathroom door. A lot of publicity has gone into
Speaker 1: educating people that they're not washing for long enough, but
Speaker 1: many are also missing the mark by not thoroughly rubbing
Speaker 1: all parts of the hand. Poland said, think of how
Speaker 1: we transfer viruses, bacteria, et cetera into our body. It's
Speaker 1: with the area of the hand that nobody washes properly.
Speaker 1: That is the fingertips. People wash the palm, they wash
Speaker 1: the back of their hand, They wash the bottom third
Speaker 1: of the fingers. But have you ever seen someone wash
Speaker 1: fingernails or tips? So the next time you're washing up,
Speaker 1: make a point to pay extra attention to these often
Speaker 1: neglected appendages. There will be times, though, when hand sanitizer
Speaker 1: just makes more sense than hand washing. Let's say you
Speaker 1: were in the bathroom at your office. Followed all the
Speaker 1: steps we outlined above, so now you have perfectly clean hands.
Speaker 1: But wait, you need to open the door that leads
Speaker 1: from the hallway where the bathroom is back to your office.
Speaker 1: Dozens of people are opening and closing that door all day.
Speaker 1: Applying a dollop of hand sanitizer might be easier than
Speaker 1: washing your hands again, so here's the correct way to
Speaker 1: do that. First, make sure you're applying enough. About a
Speaker 1: quarter to a half dollar sized amount of hand sanitizer
Speaker 1: is necessary. Rub it over all the parts of your hand,
Speaker 1: starting from the finger tips and working your way back
Speaker 1: to disinfect, and don't forget in between your fingers. Poland
Speaker 1: said keep doing that until it's dry. That way, you
Speaker 1: know you've had enough exposure time for that disinfectant to kill.
Speaker 1: Resist the urge to wipe your hands on a paper
Speaker 1: towel or your pants to speed up the drying process.
Speaker 1: Since hand sanitizer and washing can be very drying, you
Speaker 1: might want to keep some hand lotion or cream or
Speaker 1: by to apply once your hands are dry. And just
Speaker 1: one more thing. Dr Poland has fielded questions from people
Speaker 1: who asked about using disinfecting wipes like those made by
Speaker 1: Chlorox or lysol on their skin as an added layer
Speaker 1: of protection. He strongly advises people against this quote. Do
Speaker 1: not wipe your face with chlorox wipes, do not clean
Speaker 1: your nose with it, and do not suck on it.
Speaker 1: It does not help, it will harm you, and it hurts.
Speaker 1: It offers no benefit. Today's episode was written by Ali A.
Speaker 1: Hoyt and produced by Tyler Klang. For more on this
Speaker 1: and lots of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio. For more
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