What needs to be disinfected in a house during a pandemic and what is not worth it: answers to important questions
'26.04.2020'
Source: health.mail.ru
In this beautiful new world where coronavirus reigns, we all so want to be sure that at least our home is a safe haven where the virus has no place. But if you have to return home from a dangerous "outside", how far can you go in an attempt to disinfect everything that has been there with us, including your own hair, clothes, shoes, bag, keys, phone, money and so on and so forth? Where is the reasonable limit? Tells health.mail.ru.
In fact, as scientists explain, we all literally bathe in an invisible “soup” of bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Myriads of microbes are teeming with everything that our eyes concern, and the list of “infected” objects can be continued endlessly. But the good news is that there is no need to go out in a chemical protection suit, and upon returning to the house - manic to wash with hot water and soap everything that you took with you, all the same. With one exception, your own hands. Here they just need to be thoroughly washed with water and soap.
Specialists in infectious diseases, microbiologists, and other experts unanimously talk about this, whom The New York Times asked to answer the most popular questions of readers who are anxious about the risk of bringing the virus into your home when you return from a store, pharmacy, or from a walk a dog. Here is what specifically asked the scientists, and here is what they answered (perhaps after reading their answers you will become much calmer):
1. Do I need to completely change clothes and take a shower when I get home?
No, no, just wash your hands. Although small drops containing viral particles do fly around a infected person when coughing and sneezing, most of them simply settle on the ground. Studies show that the smallest droplets with the virus, in principle, can soar in the air for about half an hour, but do not imagine them as a swirling cloud of midges.
As Linsey Marr of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, an environmental aerosol suspension specialist, explained, the aerodynamics of such small droplets are such that they are simply not able to come into collision with your body and settle on clothes. “This suspension is carried away by the stream of air swirling around us as we walk, and scatters from our body in different directions,” Marr explained.
2. Is there a risk that the virus will end up in my hair or beard and become infected?
There is no need to worry about this either, reassured Andrew Janowski, specialist in infectious diseases from the School of Medicine at the University of Washington. Even if someone near you sneezes, and part of the drops settle on your hair, the likelihood that they will become a source of infection is minimal. In order for infection to occur, a whole chain of events must be built up - there should be a sufficient number of viral particles in the drops that have flown out during sneezing, given that the percentage of active particles drops rapidly; A sufficient number of drops should get on your hair for infection; you must touch the place where the drops settled, and then immediately touch your face. In a word, the risk that everything will coincide is very, very low, Dzhanowski explained.
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3. Is there a risk of the virus spreading during sorting of dirty clothes and washing? Suddenly I will shake off the virus from my clothes and it will fly through the air?
The answer depends on whether it is about ordinary washing or washing things of an infected person. Normal washing should not cause you any concern. Particles of coronavirus, like particles of the influenza virus, are surrounded by a fatty membrane that dissolves under the action of soap or laundry detergent. So wash as usual, this is more than enough to remove the virus from clothing, if this is your goal.
No need to be afraid to shake clothes that have not yet been washed. As Marr explained, in order for this action to pose any danger at all, the presence of a very large number of viral particles on the surface of clothes, significantly exceeding the volumes that could theoretically appear after an ordinary person goes to a store or a pharmacy.
An exception is the situation if you are in close contact with an infected person. In this case, according to the recommendations of specialists of the American department for the control and prevention of infectious diseases, when cleaning the patient’s room, it is necessary to wear gloves and try not to shake his clothes and bedding. You need to wash them in as hot water as possible, and then dry them properly. At the same time, you can mix the patient’s clothes with other clothes when washing. Just before washing, leave the clothes and bedding of an infected person to lie in the air for a while - a moist environment is important for the virus, and when it dries, it dies.
4. How long does the virus remain active on tissue and other surfaces?
According to the results of an important study published in March in The New England Journal of Medicine, under ideal conditions, the coronavirus can survive on smooth, hard metal and plastic surfaces for three days, and on cardboard only about a day. The researchers did not study the behavior of the virus on the tissue, but most experts agree that the results of the experiment with cardboard can well be transferred to the tissue. The fact is that the natural fibers present in cardboard have an absorbent ability and cause viral particles to dry faster, and, accordingly, lose activity faster than what happens on hard surfaces. Fibers of fabric, with a high degree of probability, cause a similar effect.
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5. Do I need to worry about the risk of infection if I touch the mail, packaging, newspaper?
Such a risk is extremely low and generally exists purely theoretically. There are no reports of documented cases of infection after a person has read a letter, a newspaper or unpacked a parcel. However, this does not mean that you do not need to take precautions. It is better to throw away the packaging and then wash your hands. If you are still too worried before touching letters or packing, leave them to lie in the air for a day, and only then touch them.
6. Do I need to worry about the risk of infection if I went out for a walk with the dog?
The chances of catching the virus while on the street are very, very low, especially if you maintain a safe social distance and do not approach other people. “It’s absolutely certain that clouds of overflowing virus droplets do not hang in the atmosphere, so it’s quite safe to be outdoors,” explained Lidia Morawska, professor at the University of Queensland (Australia). - Firstly, any drops, once in the air, dissolve in it almost instantly, and their concentration very quickly becomes completely insignificant. Secondly, the stability of the virus, that is, its life cycle, is significantly shorter outside the host organism than inside it. "
7. Do I need to sanitize shoes after returning home?
Many microbes accumulate on shoes, but this does not mean that they are a source of infection. Experts believe that it is quite simple to take off street shoes when coming home and leave it either outside the door (if there is such an opportunity) or in the hallway. And to spend valuable disinfectant wipes on shoes and sneakers makes no sense.
The material is published for educational purposes and is not a medical recommendation. ForumDaily Woman is not responsible for the consequences of self-medication and may not share the views of the author or expert.
