Is Witch Hazel Effective Hand Sanitizer for COVID-19 Coronavirus? CDC says No - not a good substitute for alcohol based hand sanitizers. Alcohol-free hand santizers do nothing for the coronavirus
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In light of the shortages of hand sanitizer, some people are wondering if witch hazel is a good substitute for hand santizers that will kill the coronavirus on contact.
Witch hazel is not alcohol-based, so it is not effective against the human coronavirus spreading across the globe.
The Center for Disease Contril (CDC) is clear that a hand sanitizer needs to be alcohol-based, and that it must have a concentraion over 60% per volume, to be most effective. 75% is even better.
Prevention magazine answers the quora question very succinctly.
You can also find the link to the article in the description below this video.
Basically, Witch hazel is an astringent. It is not a disinfectant.
Quote: "As for its ability to kill germs, doctors who specialize in infectious diseases say it’s not reliable." Unquote.
The article goes on to report that infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security says,
"there simply is no evidence that witch hazel is effective as an antiseptic."
Another expert, Rajeev Fernando, M.D., an infectious disease expert in Southampton, New York says, that "as a reliable method, we do not know how it (ie, witch hazel) stacks up with coronavirus."
Bottom line. It takes alcohol in a hand sanitizer and in high enough concentration to disrupt the exterior membrane of the coronavirus cell to kill it. Witch hazel doesn't cut it as a hand sanitizer.
Be safe, and follow the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. After all, they are the scientists and they have done the tests and published their results.
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