Hand-Washing Might Not Help Much Against Flu

Some scientist say it's airborne, not spread by touch
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 16, 2009 7:38 PM CDT
Hand-Washing Might Not Help Much Against Flu
The last bottle of Purell hand sanitizer is sold at a West Aid Pharmacy in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo)

Everyone from Elmo to President Obama is telling people to wash their hands to avoid getting the swine flu, and Disney could make a killing on “Musical Hand Wash Timers” featuring its stable of characters. But Newsweek talks to scientists skeptical of the approach: Hand-washing might be great for colds, but not so much against the flu because they say it's transmitted by air instead of through touch.

“We don't want to create a crisis in confidence,” says a scientist in charge of a flu-research center in Minnesota. “But we have to be honest: the evidence doesn't show that hand-washing prevents the spread of the influenza virus.” A Berkeley epidemiologist agrees and fears the simplistic focus on washing hands could give people a false sense of security. The CDC stands by its advice as a good practice against "respiratory infections in general" but stresses that the best practice is to get a flu shot in October.
(More swine flu stories.)

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