A government hospital here sees on a daily basis around 10-15 cases of skin problems caused by poor quality hand sanitizers used to fight COVID-19.

Dr Yatendra Chahar, head of the skin and venereal diseases department at Sarojini Naidu Medical College here, said people who frequently use hand sanitizers and also those of poor quality complain of itching, dryness, pustules and vesicles. He said office goers, youth and women constitute a large chunk of his patients.

Dr Chahar said he preferred using soap and water over hand sanitizer. Raj Kumar Sharma, drug inspector in Agra, suggested that people use only those hand sanitizers that contain around 70 per cent alcohol.