Hand sanitizer overuse

Written on 10:44 AM by Admin

hand sanitizer dangers, hand sanitizer, hand sanitizer effectiveness, hand sanitizers, h1n1 prevention

Overuse of antibiotics have led to drug-resistant bacteria. As people find they cannot gain access to the H1N1 vaccine, and fear builds, people are wondering about similar hand sanitizer overuse.

It's also true that some are concerned about the H1N1 vaccine itself. Given that, using as many alternatives as possible is not necessarily a bad thing.

It's true, that the same experts have said that washing your hands is important in preventing not just H1N1 swine flu transmission, but seasonal flu and colds. Not, however, to the point of OCD hand-washing behavior. Hand sanitizer overuse, as to be honest, is another possible fear-reaction.

Hand sanitizer overuse is probably not going to result in the same types of superbugs that overuse of antibiotics have. However, the germ-killing ingredients in hand sanitizers simply isn't that strong. If it were, you wouldn't want to be casually using it on your hands.

In fact, nothing is going to make you completely safe against swine flu. You won't be able to kill enough of the germs with hand sanitizer, overuse or no, to make a difference. Viruses are harder to kill, as well, and let's not forget that flu is caused by a virus, not a bacteria.

The biggest threat with hand sanitizer overuse is cracking and drying out of your hands. That would be the same issue if you overwashed your hands, as someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) might do.

Just remember that an effective hand sanitizer should be at least 60 percent alcohol based. That alone should warn you off of hand sanitizer overuse, as you probably know what pure alcohol would do to your hands if you used it as a disinfectant.