10/18/2020 4:42 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 10/18/2020 4:42 PM
The new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has lived with humanity for less than a year and still continues to surprise.
A week ago Australian scientists claimed that it could survive 28 days at 20 degrees on surfaces like plastic and steel, and now they have found another feature.
According to a group of Japanese researchers, it
remains active on human skin for nine hours
,
five times longer than the flu virus
.
This ends up affirming the need for frequent hand washing to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
By comparison,
the pathogen that causes the flu survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours
, according to the study published in the journal
Clinical Infectious Diseases
.
"The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission compared to the influenza virus, thus accelerating the pandemic," the study indicates.
The research team examined the skin obtained from autopsies, approximately one day after death.
The world under the coronavirus pandemic: a picture in the Czech Republic Photo Reuters.
Both the coronavirus and the flu virus
are rendered inactive in 15 seconds by applying ethanol
, which is used in hand sanitizers.
"Longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 in the skin increases the risk of transmission by contact; however,
hand hygiene may reduce this risk
," the study noted.
The study supports the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to regularly wash your hands thoroughly to limit transmission of the virus.
Nearly 40 million people have been infected
worldwide since it first appeared in China late last year.
Source: agencies.
AFP source
AFG
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