As I write today there has been a case in Germany of transmission from an infected traveller from Mexico to another person who has not travelled, and results of tests are due to be announced later today about the possibility of similar person-person transmission in the UK.
A number of clients have asked me about whether they should buy cleaning products that are effective against viruses. The official line at the Health Protection Agency (HPA) is to use your normal cleaning products.
Many anti-bacterial products are likely to be effective against the flu virus, but maybe haven’t been tested as it is an expensive process; this means that the manufacturers can’t make an anti-viral claim.
However, I have worked with Reckitt Benckiser for some years and many of their products have been tested and found to be effective against Influenza A type H1N1, including the old favourite clear antibacterial cleanser spray, the Dettol surface wipes and the Dettol disinfectant aerosol spray.
Hand washing is an extremely important control measure, and the Dettol hand washes are proven to be effective against E.coli, Staph. Aureus, Salmonella and Campylobacter as well as Influenza A type H1N1.
In the work-place, we are recommending that staff wash their hands upon arrival at work to ensure that any contamination picked up on the tube, bus or train is removed and not spread around the building. This isn’t a bad idea anyway – regardless of the flu issue!
Advice is for people to cough or sneeze into a clean tissue which is then binned or better still flushed down the toilet. Hand washing should follow. If you don’t have a tissue, then it is better to cough or sneeze into the crook of your arm to contain the droplets.
Regular sanitizing of hand contact surfaces such as:
- Toilet door handles
- Taps
- Entry door handles
- Keyboards, mice, phones (shared desks)
- Kettle handles
- Photocopier
- Drawer handles
The method of sanitizing depends on the surface. For electrical items use a wipe carefully or spray a sanitizer onto a paper towel prior to wiping.
There are a number of other products on the market that may be helpful such as sanitizing hand foams, hand wipes, and anti-microbial hand barrier creams.
In food businesses, attention to sanitizing hard surfaces regularly at front of house is important, and one option may be to provide a foam type alcohol based-hand cleanser for staff on tills to reduce contamination levels on hands from handling money.
Currently HPA advice on wearing face masks is that the general public should not – see advice at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1240986147745?p=1231252394302
