A few decades ago, hand sanitizers were not around to constantly give us that "fresh&clean" feeling that we want. Once, if our hands were dirty, we'd wash it with soap. But thanks to the entrepreneurial thinking of marketing executives, hand sanitizers are now everywhere, what with people turning more and more paranoid, even obsessive-compulsive.
I, for instance, have one in my bag. It's nice to have it handy so that when I feel like my hands are dirty, I can just rub some on my hands. It actually gives me some kind of peace of mind, knowing that I can kill germs whenever, wherever, especially now that this irksome flu bug seems to still be everywhere.
However, various studies by U.S. researchers show that hand sanitizers aren't particularly helpful in protecting us from flu's and other disease-causing viruses. Experts say that they do not really stop the spread of diseases, and not even the high quality ones kill all the microbes found on our hands.
At the onset of the H1N1 pandemic, public health officials have been telling us to thoroughly cleanse our hands with hand sanitizers. But now that we have the real facts, we can be less dependent on them. After all, meticulous hand washing using soap still works best. And really, a little bit of germs don't hurt.