What is hand sanitizer?
Hand sanitizer is the first, best and fastest choice if you want clean hands. A hand sanitizer is obvious to use when your hands have become invisible or dry contaminated/dirty.
Instructions for use
Step 1) Apply 2 – 3 ml of hand sanitizer to dry hands.
Step 2) Rub the hand sanitizer thoroughly all over the hands until they are dry.
When you use hand disinfection, the microorganisms with which you have been temporarily contaminated are killed. A hand sanitizer can be advantageously used for hand hygiene in the bathroom as well as in the kitchen.
Contact infection
Transmission of infection can occur through direct contact, which requires physical contact between the source of infection and the susceptible person.
Transmission of infection can also occur through indirect contact. It happens when the susceptible person gets the bacteria transferred via an intermediary, i.e. comes into contact with objects that are contaminating.
Facts about hand sanitizer
A hand sanitizer contains alcohol. Alcohol works by destroying the cells – namely by denaturing and coagulating proteins. The cells are lysed and thus the cellular metabolism is destroyed.
For hand disinfection, ethanol in the strength of 70-85% is recommended. The product must have the skin care agent glycerol added. Dax hand sanitizer is based on ethanol and meets EN 1500.
Alcohol is effective against almost all microorganisms, but is not effective against spores. There is no risk of developing resistance to alcohol.
Ethanol is the recommended agent for hand disinfection in Denmark. It has been chosen because even with repeated use in relevant concentrations it cannot be detected in the blood. There is therefore no reason to suspect alcohol of having serious side effects when used normally for skin and surface disinfection.
Hand sanitizer is gentle on the hands
Some people experience discomfort in the form of dry skin with frequent hand washing. Studies have shown that hand disinfection is far more gentle on the hands than washing with soap and water.
Furthermore, allergy to alcohol-based hand disinfectants is only rarely described.
You can therefore spare your hands without compromising on good hand hygiene by replacing hand washing with hand disinfection. Dax hand sanitizer contains Glycerin, which prevents hands from drying out.
Remember that you must wash your hands when you have become visibly or wetly contaminated.
Guide and facts about hand sanitizer prepared by
Hygiene nurse Ian Gottlieb West Jutland Infection Hygiene