Evaluation of an antimicrobial surgical glove to inactivate live human immunodeficiency virus following simulated glove puncture.
BACKGROUND
Percutaneous injuries associated with cutting instruments, needles, and other sharps (eg, metallic meshes, bone fragments, etc) occur commonly during surgical procedures, exposing members of surgical teams to the risk for contamination by blood-borne pathogens. This study evaluated the efficacy of an innovative integrated antimicrobial glove to reduce transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) following a simulated surgical-glove puncture injury.


METHODS
A pneumatically activated puncturing apparatus was used in a surgical-glove perforation model to evaluate the passage of live HIV-1 virus transferred via a contaminated blood-laden needle, using a reference (standard double-layer glove) and an antimicrobial benzalkonium chloride (BKC) surgical glove. The study used 2 experimental designs. In method A, 10 replicates were used in 2 cycles to compare the mean viral load following passage through standard and antimicrobial gloves. In method B, 10 replicates were pooled into 3 aliquots and were used to assess viral passage though standard and antimicrobial test gloves. In both methods, viral viability was assessed by observing the cytopathic effects in human lymphocytic C8166 T-cell tissue culture. Concurrent viral and cell culture viability controls were run in parallel with the experiment's studies.


RESULTS
All controls involving tissue culture and viral viability were performed according to study design. Mean HIV viral loads (log(10)TCID(50)) were significantly reduced (P < .01) following passage through the BKC surgical glove compared to passage through the nonantimicrobial glove. The reduction (log reduction and percent viral reduction) of the HIV virus ranged from 1.96 to 2.4 and from 98.9% to 99.6%, respectively, following simulated surgical-glove perforation.


CONCLUSIONS
Sharps injuries in the operating room pose a significant occupational risk for surgical practitioners. The findings of this study suggest that an innovative antimicrobial glove was effective at significantly (P < .01) reducing the risk for blood-borne virus transfer in a model of simulated glove perforation.
Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA. edmiston@mcw.edu
Charles E
CE
Edmiston
S Steve
SS
Zhou
Pierre
P
Hoerner
Raffi
R
Krikorian
Candace J
CJ
Krepel
Brian D
BD
Lewis
Kellie R
KR
Brown
Peter J
PJ
Rossi
Mary Beth
MB
Graham
Gary R
GR
Seabrook
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D005932:Gloves, Surgical; D006678:HIV / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000187:drug effects; D009339:Needles / Q000009:adverse effects; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology; D019562:Viral Load / Q000187:drug effects; D038301:Virus Inactivation / Q000187:drug effects*
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds