Coronavirus: what soap does to the virus that causes covid-19

I will wash the mani; мыть руки; Hände waschen;请 洗手 … no matter what language, the most important message of the moment is clear: wash your hands.

And it is that, no matter how advanced science is in the 21st century, in the coronavirus pandemic the key weapon is that ancient technology of combining soap and water.

Although we do not know for sure who, when or how someone had such a brilliant idea, we do know that this mixture is still the best strategy to combat infectious diseases and even the hitherto invincible SARS-CoV-2 cannot fight it.

But why does it work so well?

Because what for us can be so pleasant that it becomes relaxing – the sound of the water, the pleasure of feeling it running on our skin, the aroma of soap and that pause that now, on the advice of the authorities, is even accompanied by some song-, for microorganisms it is highly destructive.

A single drop of soap in water can kill countless bacteria and viruses.

The secret of soap

Soap is a mixture of some grease, water, and alkali or basic salt.

Alkali comes from the Arabic: Al-Qaly القلي, القالي, ‘ash’, which is what the Sumerians used as early as 3000 B.C., the oldest known reference.

The recipe we use today is very similar to the one found in wedge-shaped tablets, and rightly so, because that slippery solution does its job: clean.

The secret is in the preferences of each end of the soap molecules, which have a head and a tail.

The head is hydrophilic and the tail is hydrophobic and lipophilic or, in other words, on the one hand it attracts water and on the other, oil or fat.

When you are washing your hands and the soap molecules meet with grease, their tails are attracted to it while their heads remain in the water.

The attractive forces between the heads and the water are so strong that they lift the fat from the surface, so that it is completely surrounded by detergent molecules, which separate it into smaller and smaller pieces, which are then dragged with the water. .

But why is it so effective with viruses like the one that causes convid-19 disease?

• What are coronaviruses, how many are there and what effects do they have on humans?

Unpacking

The coronavirus, like all viruses, is basically a set of instructions – fragments of genetic code – looking for cells to invade to force them to follow its commands.

But it turns out that those instructions – ribonucleic acid (RNA) – are packaged in what’s known as the viral envelope, and that of SARS-CoV-2 It is done lipids and those lipids are fat.

In front of the soap, that is his Achilles heel.

When you inadvertently pick up coronaviruses with your hands, they cannot penetrate the skin, since their outer layer is slightly acidic, but they can remain there waiting for the opportunity to enter the body through more vulnerable places.

And it is at that moment that you can intercept and destroy it, just by washing your hands.

Soap not only loosens the virus from the skin, but causes the viral envelope to dissolve, so that proteins and RNA slide and the virus metaphorically dies – it is really deactivated, since the viruses are not exactly alive.

It only remains for the water to take the remains of what until 20 seconds ago was a serious threat to our health and that of others.

• Why drying hands is as important as washing your hands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus

• Does the antibacterial gel work against the new coronavirus?

Why 20 seconds?

Because soap takes some time for its magic to take effect, and by the way, we also need a few seconds to make sure we are soaping up everywhere.

Disinfectants also work but the wonder of soapy water is that you only need a little to cover all your hands and just by scrubbing you get rid of the unwanted.

To achieve the same with other products, which generally contain alcohol, you have to soak with those substances all the nooks and crannies where viruses can be hidden.

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