Disinfection of the Hands of Ward Personnel

Abstract

Six preparations for hand disinfection have been compared, five hexachlorophene detergents and one quaternary ammonium compound. In preliminary experiments one of the hexachlorophene preparations and the quaternary ammonium compound were excluded from further investigations because of heavy skin‐irritating properties and poor antibacterial effect. The remaining four hexachlorophene preparations were compared using a Latin square design. Three of the preparations gave a 93.5–97.5 per cent reduction of the resident hand flora, the fourth disinfectant being significantly less effective. One of the three preparations caused greater reduction in bacterial hand flora than the other disinfectants, which on the other hand have less side‐effects. Altogether the differences between the three superior preparations were small, and the cost may therefore partly decide which is to be chosen. During treatment with hexachlorophene preparations the frequency of Staph. aureus isolations was greatly reduced, but there seemed to be no influence on gram negative organisms.