A drop of soap diluted in water is sufficient to rupture and kill many types of bacteria and viruses, including the new Covid-19 virus that is currently circling the globe. The secret to soap’s impressive might is its hybrid structure. Soap is made of pin-shaped molecules, each of which has a hydrophilic head — it readily bonds with water — and a hydrophobic tail, which shuns water and prefers to link up with oils and fats. These molecules, when suspended in water, alternately float about as solitary units, interact with other molecules in the solution and assemble themselves into little bubbles called micelles, with heads pointing outward and tails tucked inside.
While washing your hands with soap and water, you surround any microorganisms on your skin with soap molecules, the hydrophobic tails of the free-floating soap molecules attempt to evade water. In the process, they wedge themselves into the lipid envelopes of certain microbes and viruses, prying them apart.
A proper hand wash involves lathering soap and scrubbing hands on both sides for at least 20 seconds, according to WHO guidelines. October 15 is Global Hand washing Day, a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of hand washing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives during the pandemic of this century.
The Covid-19 pandemic provides a stark reminder that one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of a virus is also one of the simplest ie, hand hygiene, especially through hand washing with soap. Hands touch too many surfaces and can quickly pick up viruses.
Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your face, from where the virus can move inside your body, making you feel unwell. Hand washing with soap must be a priority now and in the future in order to beat the virus today and ensure better health outcomes beyond the pandemic period.
This year’s theme “Hand Hygiene for All” calls for all of society to achieve universal hand hygiene. Hand hygiene is key to keeping ourselves and others protected from Corona virus disease.
Even people who are relatively young and healthy should regularly wash their hands, particularly during a pandemic, because they can spread the disease to those who are more vulnerable.
Washing with soap and water is one of the key public health practices that can significantly slow the rate of a pandemic and limit the number of infections, preventing a disastrous overburdening of hospitals and clinics.
Different measures are to be taken like setting up a network of public hand-washing stations – something done in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak of 2014.
(Dr Senapati is Dean Science, Biju Patnaik University of Technology)