With all the news about flu lately, you've probably been washing your hands more often these days or using hand sanitizer more than you ever have before. Which may have you wondering which is better at destroying the bugs and bacteria?

Our test began in Avera McKennan's lab. To make sure I didn't transfer any germs, my right hand was washed for me.  After a good scrubbing, I placed my hand on two different petri dishes.

The same procedure was done on my left hand. Only this time it was scrubbed with hand sanitizer, a brand you can buy at any big box retail store. After it was rubbed in, I placed my left hand on another two petri dishes.

The samples were then sent to the incubator to sit for a couple days, which offers ample time to grow whatever bacteria the soap and sanitizer left behind.

Two days later, it was time for the results, which were quite surprising.

"If you look at the hand sanitizer, that's normal bacteria flora from the skin and it's eliminated most of them. If you look at the soap, it is also normal bacteria from the skin but there's several different types of bacteria there and you obviously didn't scrub for 30 seconds," Leo Serrano, Director of Avera Mckennan's Lab, said.

I thought the results would show just the opposite because after all my hands felt cleaner after using soap and water.  But as suspected, my hand wasn't scrubbed for 30 seconds.

"Most people in the process of washing their hands are in a normal rush. You wash your hands, you wet your hands, you scrub your hands, you may even run your finger nails but 30 seconds is along time. It's like having to sing Happy Birthday like 2 to 3 times," Serrano said.

He says a good rule of thumb is if your hand is visibly dirty, use soap and water, then turn to the sanitizer.

"If you really want to do it right, it's a good idea to use both. But if you can't wash your hands, sanitzer is certainly a very, very good alternative," Serrano said.

Still not convinced you need to do anything at all? KELO-TV photographer Thom Morrow put his own hand to the test. With no soap or sanitizer, he placed it on a petri dish.

Two days later....

"You've got a wider variety of bacteria.  You even got fungus and mold," Serrano said.

Sounds gross, but as we learned, it's not uncommon.

"That's very normal in the process of working throughout the day and that's why we strongly encourage hand washing particularly now that you've got to worry about the flu season and other types of things. But normally hand washing really does help," said Serrano.

Helps prevent spreading bacteria, fungus, and mold to everything we touch.