Wearing protective masks and gloves on the street is useless, besides, they can harm health, said the head of the Department of Microbiology, Virology and Immunology of the Moscow State Medical University named after I. M. Sechenov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vitaly Zverev in an interview with Interfax.
Coronavirus persists on surfaces for 24-72 hours. At the same time, the results of the experiments showed that this is not a living virus, but traces of its activity. SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is not viable after this time.
Therefore, wearing gloves does not make sense, says Zverev. On the contrary, such measures pose a threat to health: the gloves collect allergens, bacteria, fungi, which can get on the skin of the hands and face and cause fungal diseases. Gloves damage the skin, and this is a human defense mechanism, part of the innate immune response. This also applies to antiseptics: they destroy the beneficial microflora. The skin protects the body much better than gloves, said Vitaly Zverev.
With the onset of hot weather, the immunologist predicts an increase in the number of dermatitis.
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Masks, according to the expert, are really necessary in public places: transport, shops. But after two hours, they turn from a means of protection into a means of spreading infection: bacteria and fungi that settle on the mask can infect a person. In addition, it is important to adhere to the recommendations of doctors and often change the mask.
If the social distance is observed, the virus cannot be transmitted to humans, the academician believes. As a result of the measures prescribed by Rospotrebnadzor, including the mask regime, the scientist predicts the growth of many diseases: emphysema of the lungs, bronchial asthma, fungal, allergic and bacterial complications.
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