New Delhi: The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, can stay on human skin for nine hours, much longer than flu viruses, according to a study.
The influenza A virus (IAV), by contrast, remained viable on human skin for nearly two hours, the researchers said, including those at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan.
The study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, found that both viruses were rapidly inactivated on the skin with a hand sanitizer.
The finding underscores the importance of washing your hands or using a disinfectant to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The researchers noted that the stability of SARS-CoV-2 in human skin remains unknown, considering the dangers of viral exposure to humans.
“We generated a model that allows the safe replication of clinical studies on the application of pathogens to human skin and clarified the stability of SARS-CoV-2 in human skin,” the researchers wrote in the journal.
They evaluated the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and IAV, mixed with culture medium or upper respiratory mucus, on human skin surfaces.
The researchers also evaluated the effectiveness of 80 percent ethanol skin disinfection against SARS-CoV-2 and IAV.
The study found that SARS-CoV-2 and IAV were more rapidly inactivated on skin surfaces than on other surfaces such as stainless steel, glass, and plastic.
The survival time was significantly longer (9 hours) for SARS-CoV-2 than for IAV (1.82 hours), according to the researchers.
“The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 in human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission compared to IAV, thus accelerating the pandemic,” the researchers wrote in the journal.
“Proper hand hygiene is important to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections,” they said.
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