Antibacterial soaps don't kill viruses

Washing your hands frequently with regular soap and water is important to help prevent the spread of germs.  But while antibacterial products may seem like a stronger cleaning option, they are no more effective in cleaning your hands than regular soap and water--and they do not kill viruses like H1N1 (swine) flu. In fact, the routine use of antibacterial cleaning products has been seriously questioned by scientists and studies have shown that triclosan, the active ingredient in many antibacterial products, may make matters worse by creating harmful drug-resistant bacteria. 

Stick with simple soap and water and if you can't wash your hands, use an alcohol-based sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content. 

—Urvashi Rangan, Technical Policy Director, Consumers Union

Keep up to date with our swine-flu coverage and recommendations.

Comments

[H1N1 Get the facts]

I read the same thing on the CDC web site. Just soap and warm water.

[MadridMan]

As the above Consumer Reports article states, simple soap-and-water kills the same number of germs as special soaps and gels but have no affect on viruses - including the H1N1 (Swine Flu) influenza virus - so the wipes offered at supermarkets to "cleanse" their grocery carts' handles would not protect against any virus.

Be sure to read and watch the videos from the Dr. Mercola article, "Swine Flu -- One of the Most Massive Cover-ups in American History" @ http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/03/What-We-Have-Learned-About-the-Great-Swine-Flu-Pandemic.aspx

[eric]

Yes Dave, b/c H1N1 is the end of the world as we know it.

[Dave in Oxford]

Many grocery stores now offer sanitizing wipes at the entrance to clean grocery cart handles, etc. If the container is empty, bring it to the attention of customer service or the manager. Ordinarily, grocery cart handles are not usually a great source of pathogens, but in the case of H1N1, no reasonable precaution should be overlooked.