Comments on: Influenza Season – What to Do http://northshorejournal.org/influenza-season-what-to-do An on-line magazine supporting the Ninth Amendment Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:57:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: L. Chasen http://northshorejournal.org/influenza-season-what-to-do/comment-page-1#comment-2948 L. Chasen Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:20:08 +0000 http://northshorejournal.org/index.php/2007/02/influenza-season-what-to-do#comment-2948 Hi. Thanks for the post. I'm confused (long-standing) about one thing. Does alcohol kill viruses or only bacteria? If one examines "anti-bacterial hand sanitizer" bottles (and the products' websites), they appear to only claim to kill bacteria (yeah -- 99% of "germs," but then read the fine print). I believe that bleach and chlorine kill viruses, but the only active substance in these sanitizers is alcohol. I see that you endorse alcohol as a virus-killer -- but if this is accurate, why don't these sanitizers, which I'm sure most people buy on the assumption they ward off cold and flu viruses, tout that fact instead of bragging that they take out e.coli, really not most people's biggest everyday worry? Thanks. <strong>[Editor - Think about how alcohol or bleach or any sanitizer works. It has to kill the germ, bacteria or virus, before it kills your own cells. The sad reality is that it is the washing that gets rid of most germs, not the saniitizer. I'm not sure where my endorsement of alcohol is. This is the CDC rec.]</strong> Hi. Thanks for the post. I’m confused (long-standing) about one thing. Does alcohol kill viruses or only bacteria? If one examines “anti-bacterial hand sanitizer” bottles (and the products’ websites), they appear to only claim to kill bacteria (yeah — 99% of “germs,” but then read the fine print). I believe that bleach and chlorine kill viruses, but the only active substance in these sanitizers is alcohol. I see that you endorse alcohol as a virus-killer — but if this is accurate, why don’t these sanitizers, which I’m sure most people buy on the assumption they ward off cold and flu viruses, tout that fact instead of bragging that they take out e.coli, really not most people’s biggest everyday worry? Thanks.

[Editor - Think about how alcohol or bleach or any sanitizer works. It has to kill the germ, bacteria or virus, before it kills your own cells. The sad reality is that it is the washing that gets rid of most germs, not the saniitizer. I'm not sure where my endorsement of alcohol is. This is the CDC rec.]

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