"It's actually better than soap," said Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr., director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Langone Medical Center. "Soap and water does not kill germs. Soap and water washes them off your skin. ...
"The best thing you can do for yourself is wash appropriately with soap and water, 15 to 20 seconds," he said. "[But] most people don't wash appropriately because they don't do it long enough, suds up appropriately, don't get in between the digits."
Studies have shown for years that people don't wash their hands as often or as well as they should.
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers only work if their alcohol concentration is greater than 60 percent (some products have 40 percent), experts say. Less is known about those marketed as alcohol-free.
In some places, schools have banned the use of alcohol-based sanitizers because of their alcohol content and concerns about accidental or even intentional ingestion.
Still, few see much downside to the ubiquity of sanitizers.
"The hand sanitizer tends to be more convenient. It tends to be less of an issue of drying [out] your hands," said Dr. Richard Boehler, chief medical officer at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. "If you're washing your hands 20 to 30 times a day ... hand sanitizers seem to do a better job of keeping the skin intact."
Boehler said the recent swine flu outbreak has not changed St. Joseph's emphasis on hand sanitizer. The hospital became vigilant about its use several years ago after cases of hospital-acquired MRSA infections (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) were becoming a problem. Boehler said the religious use of hand sanitizer among staff cut MRSA infections by 50 percent.
"Our staff use it before they enter a patient's room and after as they are leaving," he said. "You'll find it all over. You'll see signs encouraging it. I wouldn't say we're fanatical, but we're really vigilant about it and vigilance is what you need."
Sales of hand sanitizer have been rising along with fears of the swine flu.
For the 12 weeks ending Aug. 9, sales in the category were up 19 percent from a year earlier, according to Information Resources Inc., a Chicago-based market research firm. The data include supermarkets, drugstores and mass-market retailers, excluding Walmart.
