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The study supports the World Health Organization’s guidance for regular and thorough hand washing to limit transmission of the virus, which has infected nearly 40 million people worldwide since it first appeared in China late. from last year.
TOKYO – The coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours, Japanese researchers discovered, in a discovery that they said showed the need for frequent hand washing to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pathogen that causes the flu survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours by comparison, said the study published this month in the Clinical infectious diseases diary.
“The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes COVID-19) in human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission compared to IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic, “he said. .
The research team examined skin obtained from autopsy samples about a day after death.
Both the coronavirus and the flu virus are inactivated in 15 seconds by applying ethanol, which is used in hand sanitizers.
“Longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 in the skin increases the risk of transmission by contact; however, hand hygiene can reduce this risk,” the study noted.
The study supports the World Health Organization’s guidance for regular and thorough hand washing to limit transmission of the virus, which has infected nearly 40 million people worldwide since it first appeared in China late. from last year.
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