TOKYO, Japan – Coronavirus stays active on human skin for up to nine hours, Japanese researchers have found.
The study, published this month in the Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, found that these pathogens survive on human skin for about 1.8 hours, compared to pathogens.
“The nine-hour existence of SARS-Cavi-2 [the virus strain that causes COVID-19] The risk of contact transmission may increase compared to IAV on human skin [influenza A virus], Thus accelerating the epidemic, ”he said.
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The research team tested the skin collected from aut topsy samples one day after death.
Protective-clad medical personnel move the body of a patient who died of complications of coronavirus (Covid-19) infection on October 7, 2020, in the coronavirus ward of Ziv Medical Center in the northern city of Safed. (David Cohen / Flash 90)
Both coronavirus and flu viruses are inactivated within 15 seconds by applying ethanol, which is used in hand sanitizers.
“Prolonged presence of SARS-CoV-2 on the skin increases the risk of contact-transmission; However, hand hygiene can reduce this risk, ”the study said.
The study supports the World Health Organization’s guidelines for regular and thorough hand washing to limit the transmission of the virus, which has infected nearly 40 million people worldwide since it first appeared in China late last year.
