Hand lotion linked to sores
A TEACHER in Limerick noticed months after the i ntroduction of hand sanitiser in her school that her eczema had been deteriorating.
Dervila Kelly said she did not notice any problems initially, but for a month before the recall of ViraPro hand sanitiser, she knew something was wrong.
After speaking to other teachers at St Mary’s Nati onal S c hool in Limerick, she realised that once their initial cartridges had run out, they had been refilled with ViraPro.
She shared photos on Twitter of the painful looking sores on her hands, which she thinks could have been caused by the sanitiser.
She said: ‘Since the mass introduction of hand sanitising in March, I’ve had painful eczema and dermatitis. The pain staff and children have gone through because of this negligence is profound.’
The shocking images show her skin had been irritated to the point that she was left with an open wound.
She told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘I’m from a farm myself. So I would be less inclined to work on a farm while I have the eczema while it’s so sore at the moment – much to my dad’s upset.’
She said the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation and the Department of Education should investigate the extent to which people were affected by headaches and eczema linked to the use of ViraPro in schools.
She said: ‘My reaction on Friday was I was so worried about t he children in my class.
‘There’s an onus on the people who are pushing hand sanitiser chemicals into schools that they show us they are safe.’
Ms Kelly added: ‘As a teacher I haven’t really thought about myself at all. My priority is making sure that when we go back next week I’m in a safe environment and the children are as well.’