Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Evaluation of the bactericidal efficacy of three different alcohol hand rubs against 57 clinical isolates of S-aureus

Cheeseman, Keely Emma, Denyer, Stephen Paul, Hosein, I. K., Williams, Gareth John and Maillard, Jean-Yves ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8617-9288 2009. Evaluation of the bactericidal efficacy of three different alcohol hand rubs against 57 clinical isolates of S-aureus. Journal of Hospital Infection 72 (4) , pp. 319-325. 10.1016/j.jhin.2009.04.018

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

We tested the efficacy of three alcohol hand rubs (AHRs) used in two local Welsh intensive therapy units (ITUs) against Staphylococcus aureus. The test protocol was based on a carrier test and parameters (concentration, contact time) were chosen following observation of hand-sanitising practices in the ITUs. Following AHR exposure, surviving bacteria were enumerated using a standard plate count method plus a Bioscreen C Microbial Growth Analyser. The AHRs demonstrated variable efficacy against the clinical isolates: the mean log10 reduction after 10 s exposure to Soft Care Med H5, Cutan and Guest Medical AHRs was 2.67, 0.696 and 1.96, respectively, and after 30 s exposure was 4.58, 1.74 and 3.60, respectively. Since the average time taken by healthcare workers (HCWs) to rub AHR onto their hands was 11 s and 15 s at the two hospitals, the efficacy of these AHRs may be significantly limited against the S. aureus isolates under the conditions observed in practice. In addition, differences observed in log10 reduction in bacterial number post-exposure using the Bioscreen compared to the plate count method provided evidence that S. aureus may be able to recover following Guest Medical AHR treatment within 2 min exposure, whereas after 5 min exposure bacterial damage caused by the AHR was irreversible. Although the introduction of AHRs improved hand hygiene compliance among HCWs, our observations highlighted that contact time is an important factor to ensure the efficacy of these products.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Pharmacy
Subjects: R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords: Alcohol hand rubs ; Bioscreen ; Carrier test ; Intensive therapy unit ; Skin disinfection ; Staphylococcus aureus
Publisher: Elsevier
ISSN: 0195-6701
Last Modified: 17 Oct 2022 09:59
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/6475

Citation Data

Cited 16 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item