Abstract
Background
Hygienic hand disinfection using alcohol-based handrubs (AHRs) is an alternative method
to conventional handwashing in hospital wards. Because a documented choice of such
products would consider data from in-care evaluation, we designed a comparative study
of 9 AHRs both in vitro and in vivo in actual care conditions.
Methods
The bactericidal activity of AHRs was first measured in vitro against 4 hospital strains
exhibiting multiple antibiotic resistance: Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter aerogenes. In a second time, AHRs were tested in an intensive care unit for antibacterial activity
against the cutaneous flora of personnel hands and for acceptance by the care personnel.
Results
The 9 AHRs could be classified in 3 groups on the basis of their in vitro activity:
products of the first group showed a bactericidal activity higher than 4 log10 against the 4 strains. Only 1 of these products presented simultaneously an effective
antibacterial activity against the cutaneous flora of care personnel hands and a good
acceptance by the care personnel.
Conclusion
The in vitro study allowed the differentiation of the AHRs tested on the basis of
bactericidal activity, but evaluation in an in-care situation allowed further discrimination
through both antibacterial activity and acceptance. Thus, the combination of in vitro
and in vivo evaluations should provide helpful arguments in the choice of AHRs.
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Article info
Publication history
Rouen, France
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
