Coronavirus, influenza and more: the danger of long nails during a pandemic
'31.03.2020'
Source: "Okay Dok" on Yandex.Zen
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, we all carefully monitor hand cleanliness, recalls the author of the channel "Okay Doc" on "Yandex.Zen". We pay attention to the soap that we use, we regularly buy sanitizers and even know what percentage of alcohol must be in antiseptics in order for them to work effectively. But are we taking all the nuances into account? No!
So many women can now boast of fashionable manicure and long nails (their own or extended). Children often bite their nails, by the way, representatives of the stronger sex also keep up with them. And people regularly cook food, pick up food, touch the faces of loved ones, etc. Is only cleanliness important in this case? No, also the purity of the subungual space.
The area between the skin of the finger and the nail is an ideal habitat for bacteria. And unfortunately for many modern ladies, their long nails are extremely unhygienic. It is not for nothing that before giving birth, women are reminded of the need to cut their nails short and remove all rings. It's not only about the risks of injuring the child, but also about the fact that under our nails each of us has a whole living world - and this is in the truest sense of the word.
It is interesting! You hardly knew, but doctors, especially surgeons, always carefully wipe their nails before putting on gloves. They disinfect the subungual area with a special brush for nails and disinfectant. By the way, you will never see a surgeon with long nails.
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Who lives under our nails?
On average per day, our hands come in contact with approximately 10 million different bacteria. However, if a person has long nails, and also works with food products (especially raw meat and fish) without gloves, this figure increases significantly.
Dirt, sometimes even invisible to the eye, accumulates under the nails and it is quite difficult to remove it from there. In particular, enterobacteria live under the nails - E. coli, Salmonella, Klebsiella, Proteus, etc. When they enter the human body, diarrhea and vomiting begin. Imagine what happens when a person starts biting a nail?
And even if you do not bite your nails, there are many other ways to get in trouble, because a person touches his face, lips, comes into contact with a lot of things, including food, a mobile phone, etc.
Coronavirus from under the nails?
It is especially important to think about the hygiene of your nails during the coronavirus pandemic, when literally everything is disinfected. Can the virus live under the nails? Naturally, such studies have not yet been conducted. Although there are several stories of nurses who claim that COVID-19 can be easily infected precisely because of dirty long nails. This was written by the British edition of The Sun. The article provides a direct speech from a nurse from Australia who works in contact with patients with coronavirus and tells in detail how to monitor the cleanliness of nails and why unsafe hygiene is dangerous.
An entire article on dirt under the nails and the connection between the habit of biting your nails and the risk of contracting a coronavirus was also dedicated to the influential The Daily Mail. You can see the original here.
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The article provides the point of view of a doctor of medical sciences, a doctor specializing in the treatment of infectious diseases and allergopathies, and immunologist Purvey S. Parikh (USA). She is sure that the dirt from under the nails contains not only bacteria, but also viruses. Including there you can find the coronavirus, as well as the flu virus.
Therefore, when you handle your hands, wash them with soap, pay attention to your nails. Get a special small brush, soaping which you can remove dirt. For the duration of the epidemic, give up long nails and do not forget to thoroughly disinfect the rings that you wear (keep their number to a minimum). Also remember about gloves - it is advisable to cut raw meat, fish, preferably only in them.
