A tissue that kills germs in minutes

Kleenex claims to have developed a tissue that kills 99.9 per cent of cold and flu viruses within minutes.

The company said the three-ply tissue, in which the middle layer is impregnated with anti-viral chemicals, will go on sale in the U.S. in October amid a £16million marketing campaign. They may be available in the UK next year.

Peter Openshaw, a professor of virology at Imperial College London, said: 'I accept it kills 99.9 per cent of viruses but the makers have no evidence that it stops the spread of colds. The tissue won't sterilise the air. In one sneeze there can be 40,000 droplets.'