Is it true that coronavirus can stick to hair or beard?

No scientific evidence has been found to warn that hair or beard are especially important risk factors for the spread of coronavirus. Neither the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health or the CDC have proposed any recommendation in this regard.

“The survival of the coronavirus in hair has not yet been specifically studied (or at least the data is not available),” explains Mónica Berjón Otero, a researcher specialized in Virology and Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (Heidelberg , Germany). His recommendation is not to become obsessed with the subject and simply follow the official recommendations: clean your hands every so often and maintain good hair and body hygiene, in general.

In principle, if we consider this part of the body as a surface, the WHO recalls on its website, that “it is not known how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it seems to behave like other coronaviruses, which can remain in them from a few hours to several days. ” It also indicates that it will depend on external conditions, such as temperature or humidity, among others.

The organization’s recommendation is that if we think that a surface may be infected, we should clean it with a simple disinfectant to eliminate the virus and protect ourselves and those around us.

As confirmed by Sonia Zuñiga, researcher at the National Center for Biotechnology at the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CNB-CSIC) and whose line of research focuses on the molecular basis of the pathogenesis of emerging coronaviruses, it is true that the virus could remain in the hair. “But it is not the best surface for it to survive,” she details.

Zuñiga believes that getting it through this route would be unlikely but possible. To do this, someone would have had to cough close to our hair and we had to touch our hair and then put our hands to our nose or mouth.

“An unlikely situation in the day to day of a person,” says the expert. “It would be different in the case of health personnel (that’s why the caps) or us, who work with this type of virus and that’s why we shower completely before leaving the laboratory.” Still, Zuñiga says that where they most affect is hands and face, but also hair.

David Saceda, member of the Spanish Trichology Group of the Spanish Association of Dermatology and Venerology (AEDV) confirms: “A virus can perfectly stick to the hair, as to any point on our skin. In fact, now, with the COVID-19 epidemic, doctors are asking us to go shave to prevent the virus from getting more easily into the beard. However, it is also true that if you do not have a beard, it can also adhere to the skin of the face. The important thing is to maintain hygiene ”, remembers this dermatologist.

Therefore, from TRICHOMEDIC LABS, we advise to follow the hygiene recommendations issued by the WHO and the most prestigious doctors and researchers:

Frequently wash hands, maintain good hygiene including, logically, hair and beard.