Sanitizing gels

Where I currently live in Thailand, a number of sanitizing gels have sprung up into existence since the outbreak of swine flu. I sometimes wonder just how effective these gels are those when it comes to eliminating harmful bacteria. Perhaps it's me being too cynical. I dunno. But i do like the automatic hand sanitizers which means you don't have to touch any dirty bottle cap or tap pump to get the stuff out. Also, I like to carry around with me just a small tub of alcohol sanitizer. When this whole swine flu dies down, I wonder if the Thais will go back to their old ways of not perhaps being so obsessed with disinfecting their hands all the time. Or if its become a new ingrained habbit, hard to shake off. In many ways the swine flu pandemic has helped us really how susceptible we are to germs, bacteria and viruses and how quickly they can be passed on from one human being to another. Let's hope that we will continue our better hygienic practices in the future.