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Comment by sol_remmy | Hacker News Reader

They should be outlawed for camping too... the importance of keeping bacteria from growing immune outweighs the small risk of getting a stomach bug while camping

Sanitizer should ONLY be legal for use in hospitals

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It is not a small risk. Being stuck in the backcountry while losing fluids and nutrients to a GI infection can be a life-threatening situation. Hygiene is in short supply out there to begin with, so it’s very important to have clean hands when handling food and water.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers aren't effective against noroviruses, etc. viral gastroenteritis anyway. Campers should be using soap if they actually want their hands clean (and wash for at least 10 seconds).

https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/prevention.html

Yeah, you're probably right. We've used soap for centuries and it works very well.

We should ban soap too so bacteria don’t get immune to that.

I’m guessing this is sarcasm but soap works through a mechanical process of helping to push the bacteria off your skin, rather than a chemical process of killing them.

stickier bacteria?

Very creative idea!

Technically, it does both.

Interesting. And the FDA banned antibacterial soap?

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/say-goodbye-antibacte...

Yes, because of the additives that make up the “antibacterial” part. Not because of the “soap” part.

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