Study: Hand Sanitizers Stop Nothing?

Everyone has gone crazy for the idea of using hand sanitizers to avoid getting the flu, but do they really even stop anything?

A new report says that the popular hand sanitizers, that many have picked up after the H1N1 Swine Flu care, don't really do much at all to stop you from getting the flu, of even the common cold. The researchers say though, that this doesn't mean hand sanitizers aren't good at getting germs off your hands, it just means that the cold and flu don't spread throguh your hands as much as we thought.

Study: Hand Sanitizers Stop Nothing?
spokesman

If the presence of all those alcohol-based hand sanitizers makes you feel safe from disease, read no further. The sanitizers - Purell, Germ-X and the like - started popping up everywhere last year after the outbreak of the H1N1 "swine flu" virus. But new research out of the University of Virginia finds that they are of no particular use in warding off the flu. They also failed to ward off rhinovirus, a major cause of the common cold. The researchers, led by Dr. Ronald B. Turner, tested the sanitizers in real-world conditions. They asked 116 volunteers to carry around a sanitizer with "enhanced antiviral activity" and use it every three hours while they were awake. Another group of 96 volunteers followed their usual routines.

Study: Hand Sanitizers Stop Nothing?