[CAUT] New flu info

[Ari]

Hi list.

I'm hesitante to write since I'm out of my depth but...
In Toronto hospitals they don't hose down the door handles, door jams etc.
with sterilizing liquids every time they're handled, they have, instead, at
the entrance to the wards, dispensers of sterilizing fluid you're encouraged
to use as you enter, or leave, or both. How about having, once an effective
sterilizing liquid is identified, both the prof and student(s) wash their
hands with that liquid before the lesson, after, or both and leave the piano
keys alone.   Even if you succeed in sterilizing the keys you still have
your hands to worry about.  
Surgeons used to use a liquid soap called physohex, I may be spelling it
wrong, it was said to be pretty potent.

Ari Isaac.
-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jim
Busby
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 7:54 PM
To: PTG-CAUT (caut at ptg.org)
Subject: [CAUT] New flu info

All,
 
My son Eric is a new Pharmacist and "up" on all the latest, and has some
pretty good sources for products. I asked him to do some research and here
is what he told me; 
 
- Hydrogen peroxide is NOT proven to kill flu germs. It may, but Eric says
he wouldn't trust it w/o testing.
- Lysol wipes HAVE been proven to kill type A flu (Swine flu is type A) but
not type B, which is a lot of the others
- Clorox wipes say they kill flu but they have NOT done the testing. THey
have the same active ingredient as Lysol, but other stuff is different and
the bottom line is it's NOT tested/proven.
- Lysol wipes (all wipes w/o alcohol) need 10 minutes to be effective (!!! I
didn't know that!)
- Alcohol/alcohol wipes take only 30 seconds and is effective
- Sprays (Lysol or Clorox) are far more effective than wipes, mainly because
of the alcohol, and take 30 seconds, but...they have alcohol, (which we
believe is bad for keytops and finishes.) (Is it really??)
- Flu and other viral germs can live on a surface like piano keys for 2
days, but Eric says say 3 to be safe.
 
I'm revising the revisions of my revised rough copy of the "policy"...
 
For whomever told me that Hydrogen Peroxide would kill flu germs, do you
have a source for seeing the tests? Eric couldn't find any. 
 
Does alcohol really hurt keytops, or is this another urban pianotech
legend?? I've never seen it, but there's a million things I haven't seen.
 
I hate to run this into the ground, but it looks like we need to study this
more. I don't know about you, but BYU and Snow College want something
definitive ASAP, and I'm afraid profs will take it upon themselves to start
hosing down the piano after each student. Hence my pressing this query.
 
Thanks.
 
Jim Busby