Washing hands is an important practice taught from a very young age at home and school as well.
The simple practice is now the hack to keep off the coronavirus that is now a declared pandemic.
Plain cold water and a bar of soap completely dismantle coronavirus and many other viruses and bacteria.
But why soap? How does it kill the virus?
It is a complicated science beneath but soap is revered to be highly destructive to microorganisms. Just like sprays are to insects and pests.
Doctor Omar Mohammed of One-Stop Chemist in Nairobi says coronavirus contains a coating layer with projections that act as protection.
The coat consists of protein and fatty material.
On the other hand, soap is made up of two-sided molecules. One side is attracted to water and the other to fat.
This gives soap affinity to both water and oil.
For this reason, just like soap dissolves in water, it dissolves in the protective coat of coronavirus to reach the delicate inside, destroying it instantly.
Doctor Thuranira Kaugaria of the Kenyatta National Hospital said washing the virus off with water alone might work.
"But water is not good at competing with the strong, glue-like interactions between the skin and the virus. Water isn’t enough," he said.
With soap, he says, things are completely different and it gets to destroy up to 99 per cent of micro-organisms.
"Soap contains a substance known as amphiphiles, they are able to break the top of most bacteria and viruses," Thuranira told the Star on Saturday.
He said common flu and bacterial infections such as amoeba, cholera, hepatitis can all be prevented by simply keeping your hands clean.
Edited by R.Wamochie
