During the epidemic, everyone has paid attention to home disinfection, and from time to time you can see the media reporting the disinfection methods of "killing eight hundred enemies and self-harming one thousand", such as smoking moxa, spraying alcohol to cause fire, disinfectant damage supplies, disinfection induced asthma and so on.
To disinfect scientifically, we must first understand the object we want to eliminate - the new crown virus.
The new crown virus is a "weak chicken" in vitro
The main way people get infected with the new coronavirus is respiratory droplets, and although people may be infected by touching contaminated items, the risk is very low, and studies believe that the chance of infection in one contact with contaminated surfaces is less than 1 in 10,000.
The coronavirus has a coating on the surface, which is unstable and degrades quickly after contact with surfactant-containing detergents such as hand sanitizers and detergents.
Although there has been no study of the new coronavirus, studies of other microorganisms have found that cleaning with detergent alone can reduce the microorganisms on the surface of articles by 90-99.9%.
Daily only needs ventilation and cleaning
If there are no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in the home, it is enough to do well ventilation and daily cleaning.
1. Ventilation
Needless to say, the importance of ventilation prevents virus particles from accumulating in indoor air and reduces virus transmission. Three methods are commonly used: opening windows; Turn on kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans; With a HEPA (High Efficiency Air Filter) air purifier.
But in the cold winter months, is there a way to increase ventilation efficiency and shorten the window opening time? Yes, take out the fan used in summer, blow air outside the window when you open the window, and the fan becomes an exhaust fan in seconds.
2. Daily cleaning
Hard surfaces such as tabletops, floors, switches, doorknobs: with dish soap and water, or with corresponding detergents, such as floor cleaners.
Soft surfaces, e.g. carpets, floor mats: vacuum cleaner suction; with the corresponding detergent; If it can be washed, wash at the highest temperature allowed and let dry completely.
Items that can be washed, such as clothes, towels: wash with laundry detergent and recommended water temperature and dry completely; Wash your hands after washing dirty laundry; Clean the laundry basket. If someone in the family is sick, it is generally safe to wash their clothes in a washing machine with other people's clothes, taking care to wash them in hot water as much as possible and take dirty clothes with gloves. For details, please see Contact with new crown infected people, how to wash clothes at night?
Electrical appliances, such as mobile phones, computers, remote controls: Alcohol pads can be used to clean mobile phones, remote controls, keyboards, but not computer screens. The latter requires a special cleaning agent.
Disinfection is required only if there are confirmed or suspected patients in the home
In order to avoid the disinfection of killing eight hundred enemies and self-damaging one thousand, disinfection must pay attention to the following matters:
Make sure the disinfectant you buy is suitable. Commonly used disinfectants are chlorine-containing disinfectants, such as 84 disinfectant, trichloroisocyanuric acid (health hormone), chlorine dioxide.
It is usually necessary to clean before disinfection, and stains often affect the effect of disinfection.
Precautions during configuration and disinfection, such as disposable gloves, masks, goggles, long sleeves, and windows for ventilation
According to the instructions to configure the appropriate concentration of disinfectant, chlorine disinfectant is not the higher the concentration, the better, too high concentration of disinfectant can not achieve effective disinfection effect, but also cause environmental pollution.
The disinfectant needs to stay on the surface of the item for enough time to function, and the surface of the object needs to be kept moist during the stay, and then washed off with clean water, please follow the instructions.
After the procedure, discard gloves and wash your hands thoroughly with running water and hand sanitizer (scrub for more than 20 seconds).
If there are asthma patients in the home, they can only enter this area after disinfection and adequate ventilation. Or switch to a disinfection method that does not trigger asthma, such as 75% alcohol.
All kinds of disinfectants need to be placed out of the reach of children, and put away in time after use to avoid accidental contact.
Disinfection methods are not recommended
Online air disinfection spray, no-wash chlorine-containing disinfectants, and vinegar and moxa fumigation commonly used in China are not recommended disinfection methods by CDC and the World Health Organization, and the evidence of effectiveness is insufficient and risky.
A variety of household ultraviolet disinfection lamps are not recommended to buy, because ultraviolet rays for reducing the spread of the new crown virus is not clear, and ultraviolet rays have certain dangers, if accidentally exposed, it may harm the skin and eyes, and ozone will be generated in the air after disinfection.
Disinfection has a certain role in preventing the spread of the new crown virus, but the effect is limited, don't overdo it!
| Author of this article
Bell Music
Pediatrician, Orthodontic
Ph.D., Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University
Visiting scholar at Yale University School of Medicine
| Reviewers
Yang Weihong
Zhuo Zheng obstetrician and gynecologist
Ph.D., Peking University School of Medicine
| bibliography
1. CLEANING AND DISINFECTING Best Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-04/documents/cleaning-disinfecting-one-pager.pdf
2. Science Brief: SARS-CoV-2 and Surface (Fomite) Transmission for Indoor Community Environments https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/surface-transmission.html
3. Improving Ventilation in Your Home https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/Improving-Ventilation-Home.html
4. When and How to Clean and Disinfect Your Home https://www.cdc.gov/hygiene/cleaning/cleaning-your-home.html
| Content team
Medical Editor/Luka Executive Producer/Yelo