They're popping up all over -- in schools, churches, malls, restaurants and on desks.
As the H1N1 flu spreads, so too is the use of hand sanitizers -- both the bottled kind and those in dispensers.
The companies installing the dispensers are busier than ever.
"It's an interesting time," said Kevin Bowers, branch manager at G&K London, which has been installing hand sanitizers in office spaces with a little as five employees, to stores, hospitals and schools.
"(It's) absolutely crazy the amount of people that are using it. Everywhere you look there's a bottle (of hand sanitizer) on a desk or a bottle in a purse. It really has just taken off in proportion to the flu."
Bowers said demand started just before kids went back to school and has snowballed. He doesn't expect it to let up any time soon.
The demand for foam sanitizer has been so high that Easy Way, a Woodstock-based company, said it can't keep it on the shelves.
The company gets calls to install hand sanitizers around flu season every year, said Jeremy Jeanson, sales and marketing manager, but this year the calls started coming in after the first H1N1 scare in the spring.
"A lot of companies, ourselves included, really weren't prepared for the demand so our suppliers weren't prepared for the demand either and it really went off the shelves quickly. We've been trying to recover since then to try and keep our stock levels up," Jeanson said.
He said Easy Way always cautions customers they should still wash their hands and shouldn't use hand sanitizer more than twice without washing their hands in between. He said that's because though hand sanitizer kills bacteria, it's important to remove the bacteria from hands -- a step accomplished when someone washes their hands and then dries them with a towel.
"There's no question that handwashing is a key factor in discouraging the transmission of germs," said Martin McGavin, a microbiologist at the Schulich School of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario.
When handwashing isn't available, hand sanitizers are a good substitute. The fact they're everywhere is a sign of the changing times, he said.
"With crowding populations and pandemic preparedness, we have to be aware of the things we can do to prevent the spread of viruses," he said.
"It certainly doesn't hurt from your own sense of safety and self-preservation."
Kelly Pedro is a Free Press reporter. kelly.pedro@sunmedia.ca
