NOTRE DAME, IN ― The microbiology class at Saint Mary's College found the sanitizers are a great substitute when soap and water are not available.

With flu season in full swing, people have turned to hand sanitizers that promise to kill 99.9 percent of all bacteria and viruses.

Two weeks ago, WSBT News reported there wasn't any sanitizer on several store shelves. People have pushed to protect themselves more than ever after recent reports about coughing, sneezing and sniffling associated with the H1N1 virus.

Doctor Kara Eberly, biology professor at Saint Mary's College, said there is a simple reason why.

"Within a minute everything is dead, that's it." said Eberly. "Alcohol kills everything very rapidly."

Eberly's microbiology class conducted a lab experiment that tested the effectiveness of the alcohol-based gel against bacteria and germs. Lab assistants placed the gel into a tube and added two kinds of hard-to-kill bacteria.

Samples were looked at to see if the sanitizer killed most germs as promised, and it did ― which makes it the perfect substitute when water and soap is not available.

"They [manufacturers] put things in to make it stick to your hands, so it takes a little while to try," Eberly said. "It gives it a long enough time to kill microbes."

She cautions not all sanitizers are created equal. It is important to pay close attention to the percentage of alcohol in the product ― usually, the higher the percentage, the better.

"I would not go lower than 50 percent to kill," Eberly said.

The Centers for Disease Control ran a similar experiment and found some bargain brands may not protect as well as name brands. She said drier skin is a side effect from using some hand sanitizers, but the body is protected.

"It works," she said. "It really does."