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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Gentle cleansers are just as effective in killing viruses – including coronavirus – as harsh soaps [sheffield.ac.uk]:

Health care professionals often substitute harsh soaps or alcohol-based hand sanitisers with skin-friendly cleansers in order to treat or prevent irritant contact dermatitis - a common skin disease which causes red and swollen skin with a dry and damaged surface.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, incidence and severity of the disease amongst healthcare professionals increased from 20 per cent to 80 per cent.

Despite the widespread use of gentle cleansing products for handwashing, there has been limited evidence to show the antiviral efficacy of the products to prevent the spread of viruses such as human coronavirus, herpes simplex virus, norovirus and influenza.

[...] The findings, published in the journal Frontiers Virology, show gentle cleansers were effective in killing enveloped viruses, but non-enveloped viruses displayed resistance against skin-friendly cleansers, as well as harsh soaps.

Lead author of the study, Dr Munitta Muthana from the University of Sheffield's Department of Oncology and Metabolism, said: "Washing our hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds was a fundamental message advocated in the UK to help stop the spread of Covid-19. But for healthcare professionals, who can wash their hands as many as 100 times during a 12 hour shift, this may cause unintended adverse effects.

[...] "For the first time, our study has shown substituting harsh soaps with milder wash products such as gentle cleansers is effective in fighting against enveloped viruses, including human coronavirus, which is very encouraging - especially for those in jobs in which irritant contact dermatitis is an occupational hazard. We also found that using additional agents such as moisturisers to help protect the skin didn't prevent the products' antiviral activity, which means we don't have to use very harsh products on our skin in order to kill viruses."

Importantly, the study also found non-enveloped viruses demonstrated greater resistance across all types of hand washing products tested, including harsh chemical substances and milder solutions. Norovirus - known as the winter vomiting bug - was the most resilient.

[...] "Measures such as isolation and disinfecting surfaces with bleach are more effective in preventing the spread of the norovirus infection and more research needs to be done to see whether heavily diluted bleach-based hand washes, which are safe to use on the skin, can be produced."

Journal Reference:
Natalie Winder, Zahra Ashraf, Sara Gohar, et al., Are mild cleansers appropriate for hand hygiene in the COVID era? An in vitro investigation of the antiviral efficacy of different hand hygiene products, Front. Virol., Volume 3 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fviro.2023.1180815 [doi.org]

Original Submission