Hand hygiene during COVID-19: Recommendations from the American Contact Dermatitis Society.

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased hand hygiene and hand cleansing awareness. To prevent virus transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends frequent hand washing with soap and water. Hand hygiene products are available in a variety of forms, and while each of these formulations may be effective against COVID-19, they may also alter skin barrier integrity and function. As health care workers and the general population focus on stringent hand hygiene, the American Contact Dermatitis Society anticipates an increase in both irritant contact and allergic contact hand dermatitis. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers with moisturizers have the least sensitizing and irritancy potential when compared to soaps and synthetic detergents. This article provides an overview of the most frequently used hand hygiene products and their associations with contact dermatitis as well as recommendations from the American Contact Dermatitis Society on how to treat and prevent further dermatitis.

• Authors: Chandler W Rundle, Colby L Presley, Michelle Militello, Cara Barber, Douglas L Powell, Sharon E Jacob, Amber Reck Atwater, Kalman L Watsky, Jiade Yu, Cory A Dunnick
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (J Am Acad Dermatol) Vol. 83 Issue 6 Pg. 1730-1737 (Dec 2020) ISSN: 1097-6787 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 32707253 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Anti-Infective Agents, Local
• Irritants
• Soaps

Topics

• Anti-Infective Agents, Local (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
• Betacoronavirus (pathogenicity)
• COVID-19
• Communicable Disease Control (methods, standards)
• Coronavirus Infections (epidemiology, prevention & control, transmission, virology)
• Dermatitis, Contact (etiology, prevention & control)
• Dermatitis, Occupational (etiology, prevention & control)
• Hand Dermatoses (chemically induced, prevention & control)
• Hand Hygiene (standards)
• Health Personnel
• Humans
• Irritants (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
• Pandemics (prevention & control)
• Pneumonia, Viral (epidemiology, prevention & control, transmission, virology)
• Practice Guidelines as Topic
• SARS-CoV-2
• Soaps (adverse effects)
• Societies, Medical (standards)
• United States