A virus outbreak that began in China some months ago has recently been declared as “pandemic” by the World Health Organization. COVID-19 is a new respiratory disease in humans caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Within the current circumstances, verified information about what is happening is really useful. We prepared these videos in order to spread knowledge about the virus, its transmission and how soap or alcohol can be useful to destroy it from our hands.
In the first video you will find:
introduction to the virus: how it started, how it is spreading, how long it remains infectious in surfaces…
the way how pathogens reach our bodies and infect us
In the second one:
chemistry of soap and alcohol-based hand sanitizer
how they manage to destroy the virus
which is the preferred technique for hand disinfection
During these days your help is very important. Share this knowledge with others, stay home, stay safe and wash your hands!
References
All images were taken from Freepik, Unsplash and NY Times and are owned by their creators.
1) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – Situation Summary: Coronavirus Disease 2019 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html (March 19th 2020)
2) Sohrabi, C. et al. World Health Organization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Int. J. Surg. 76, 71–76 (2020)
3) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – How It Spreads: Coronavirus Disease 2019 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fabout%2Ftransmission.html (March 19th 2020)
4) Neeltje van Doremalen, Ph. D., et al. Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. NEJM 0–3 (2020)
5) BBC Future – Covid-19: How long does the coronavirus last on surfaces? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200317-covid-19-how-long-does-the-coronavirus-last-on-surfaces (March 19th 2020)
6) Foddai, A. C. G., et al. Efficacy of instant hand sanitizers against foodborne pathogens compared with hand washing with soap and water in food preparation settings: A systematic review. J. Food Prot. 79, 1040–1054 (2016)
7) Longtin, Y. M.D., et al. Hand hygiene. N. Engl. J. Med. 364, e24(1) (2011)
8) Gold, N., Avva, U. Alcohol Sanitizer. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513254/ (March 20th 2020)
9) World Economic Forum - A chemistry professor explains: why soap is so good at killing COVID-19 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/coronavirus-soap-covid-19-virus-hygiene/ (March 20th 2020)
10) The New York Times – Why Soap Works https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/health/soap-coronavirus-handwashing-germs.html (March 20th 2020)
11) The New York Times – How Coronavirus Hijacks Your Cells https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/11/science/how-coronavirus-hijacks-your-cells.html (March 20th 2020)