Did you know that the skin is the body’s first line of defense against infections? US dermatologist Dr. Joyce I. Imahiyerobo-Ivan Ip of Norwell, Massachusetts, advises her patients against over handwashing.
But with worries against contracting the deadly coronavirus, handwashing has become the prime sanitation protocol. It has become quite a preoccupation by everybody.
In a March 11 interview with Jeneé Osterheldt, a Nieman Fellow at Harvard and culture writer of The Boston Globe newspaper, Imahiyerobo-Ivan Ip said, “Mother Nature has given us a protective barrier in our skin. We have antimicrobial peptides in our skin to help fight off infection. What happens when your skin gets excessively dry, inflammation [occurs] and it impairs the barrier.”
Moisturize for added protection
A sanitation protocol to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 was released in mid-March by the Philippine government’s Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases. It advised the practice of frequent handwashing for at least 20 seconds to remove the virus from the hands.
And as the Philippines’s Covid-19 cases continue to rise, there is a lot of handwashing—but no moisturizing.
Imahiyerobo-Ivan Ip noted that if the hands are dry, ashy and cracking, that puts people at greater risk of infection. She advised the liberal use of moisturizers because “the skin is our first line of defense.”
But while the best defense is hand hygiene, she explained that part of this is maintaining the skin’s barrier, which should be done by moisturizing hands.
VCO enriched lotion at DOST ITDI
Which moisturizer or lotion should people go for?
Imahiyerobo-Ivan Ip said it may be wise to refrain from using water-based lotions.
She explained that all areas of contact in public areas require sanitizing of hands with alcohol-based sanitizers, while soap and water are used at home.
Her advice? Go for oil-based creams to maximize moisture.
Consumers can choose from a variety of commercially available moisturizers, which contain several types of oil or butter, including argan oil, jojoba oil and shea butter.
Luckily, the Industrial Technology Development Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ITDI) has been at work on developing a hand and body lotion and cream enriched with the popular miracle oil now—virgin coconut oil (VCO).
Led by Dr. Rosalinda C. Torres, Scientist I and Chief of the Standards and Testing Division of ITDI, together with her all-women team, is capitalizing on the unique properties of VCO.
Currently the hottest product in the market, VCO is riding on the crest of a national interest spurred by the need to find a “cure” for the Covid-19 disease. The DOST is spearheading laboratory tests and clinical trials to check whether VCO can be used as a supplement against Covid-19.
Long established by chemists and pharmacologists in the West for possessing antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties, DOST-ITDI’s VCO-enriched hand and body cream and lotion explored their antifungal properties.
Fungal infections are generally very difficult to treat, albeit many are superficial; that is, they occur on the skin. A product that can inhibit skin fungal infection is, thus, very valuable.
To this end, Torres has conducted and proven in clinical tests the efficacy and safety of the lotion and cream as antifungal products.
For the tests, the lotion and cream with 5 percent concentration of VCO were tried to determine their inhibitory activity and reactivity against two fungal strains, Microsporum canis and Candida albicans.
The former causes ringworm of the scalp and body. The latter can cause skin infection in the armpits, groin and the skin between the fingers and toes.
As expected, the lotion and cream arrested the growth and infection of the two fungal strains. Further, these were found to be safe for use as shown by the negative dermal irritation results.
Truly, complying with the Covid-19 sanitation protocol can be drying our hands. But who says that healthy, beautiful hands and skin, as our first lines of defense against infections, cannot be ours when DOST-ITDI’s VCO-enriched lotion and cream are here for you? AMGuevarra/S&T Media Service
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