Covid: Keeping you updated 3

Following from last week’s CET on handwashing, Nick Atkins writes..’ a recent study¹ evaluated the effectiveness of antiseptic hand rubbing (without water) with ethanol-based disinfectants compared with antiseptic handwashing (with water) against seasonal influenza A virus in the presence of dry and non-dry infectious mucous. It found that handwashing was most effective against both dry and non-dry infectious mucous, while the effectiveness of hand rubbing was greatly reduced until the infectious mucous adhering to the hands/fingers had completely dried. So, if hands cannot be properly dried between patients, antiseptic handwashing should be adopted to compensate for the weaknesses of antiseptic hand rubbing.’