Constantly being told to wash your hands? Us too. So we’re diving into the chemistry behind why soap is so effective against viruses like the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
SOURCES:
Inactivation of human and avian influenza viruses by potassium oleate of natural soap component through exothermic interaction https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6160177/
Effect of Surfactants on the Survival and Sorption of Viruses
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es0114097
The handiwork of good health
https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/The_handiwork_of_good_health
Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195670120300463
Efficacy of various disinfectants against SARS coronavirus
https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(05)00044-7/fulltext
How coronavirus hijacks your cells
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/11/science/how-coronavirus-hijacks-your-cells.html
CDC report on coronavirus research
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/grows-virus-cell-culture.html
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary
https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1
The science of soap – here’s how it kills the coronavirus
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/12/science-soap-kills-coronavirus-alcohol-based-disinfectants?CMP=share_btn_tw
Suspension vs carrier tests (for bacteria)
https://aem.asm.org/content/aem/54/11/2856.full.pdf
Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6483/1260
Mechanisms of Virus Assembly
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4382372/