title: Influence of applied volume on efficacy of 3-minute surgical reference disinfection method prEN 12791.
abstract: For assessment of the efficacy of surgical hand disinfection, European reference method prEN 12791 prescribes that the hands must be kept wet with the reference alcohol for 3 min regardless of the applied volume. The aim of this study was to determine whether the applied volume of the reference disinfectant n-propanol (60%, vol/vol) influences the effect on the resident hand flora. Ten experiments with 200 reference disinfections were analyzed. Hands were washed for 1 min with soap. The bacterial prevalue was obtained by rubbing fingertips in tryptic soy broth for 1 min. After this, each subject treated the hands with n-propanol (60%, vol/vol) by using as many portions as necessary to keep hands wet for a total of 3 min. Bacterial postvalues (immediate effect) were obtained for one hand, and the other hand was gloved for 3 h. After the gloves were taken off, a second postvalue was obtained (sustained effect). Most surgical reference disinfections (73%) were achieved with 9 ml of the reference alcohol, followed by 12 ml (24%) and 6 ml (3%). There was no significant difference between the mean log10 reduction values for the three treatment groups, both in terms of the immediate effect (P = 0.333, as determined by analysis of variance) and in terms of the sustained effect (P = 0.442). A higher number of portions did not correlate with a higher reduction factor (for immediate effect, Pearson's correlation coefficient = -0.028 [P = 0.689]; for sustained effect, Pearson's correlation coefficient = 0.059 [P = 0.404]). If the hands were kept wet with the reference alcohol for the total application time, the applied volume could vary, but this did not alter the efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Scientific Affairs, BODE Chemie GmbH, Hamburg, Germany. guenter.kampf@bode-chemie.de
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kampf
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ostermeyer
mesh_terms: D000433:1-Propanol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005060:Europe; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology; D006235:Hand Disinfection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D012015:Reference Standards; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D000433:1-Propanol