Singlecare: Can hand sanitizers or hand-washing kill the flu?
Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum says it's what you do with your hands when cleaning them that's important
New research examines what is more effective against the flu: hand sanitizer or hand washing. The study found that when the flu virus is trapped in wet mucus, it can remain infectious for up to four minutes after exposure to hand sanitizer—in other words, much longer than you might have guessed. According to the study, hand-washing—even without soap and even when the infected mucus was wet—was, indeed, very effective in removing the flu virus. It eliminated it in just 30 seconds.
Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the UC College of Medicine, in an interview with Singlecare, said "the fight wasn't fair." He says researchers didn’t study how hand sanitizer works when it’s rubbed into the skin, only when it was dabbed onto fingers, adding "hand rubbing is the critical part of all this."
Additional Contacts
Related Stories
Machine learning brings new insights to cell’s role in...
April 30, 2025
Researchers led by the University of Cincinnati’s Anna Kruyer and the University of Houston’s Demetrio Labate have published research in the journal Science Advances applying object recognition technology to track changes in brain cell structure and provide new insights into how the brain responds to heroin use, withdrawal and relapse.
Most teens prescribed SSRIs did not have recommended follow-up...
April 30, 2025
The University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's Martine Lamy commented to Medscape on new research that found fewer than half of the adolescents prescribed a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) at two large Chicago pediatric primary care clinics had a follow-up visit within the recommended 6 weeks.
Students shine at 2025 CAHS Scholarly Showcase
April 29, 2025
Nearly 200 students and more than 40 alumni judges participated in the 2025 CAHS Scholarly Showcase at the University of Cincinnati, featuring 82 research projects across allied health disciplines.