title: [Study of the bacterial reduction effects of dry hand rubbing without disinfectant].
abstract: Handwashing is the most basic method of preventing infection. Hand rubbing with an alcohol-based handrub, is the most efficient and popular method. We found in several case studies that 3 minutes of dry hand rubbing without any disinfectant decreases the number of hand bacteria. In this study of 54 samples taken from 47 test subjects, we tried to determine how effectively this method decreases hand bacterial numbers. Except for 12 samples that were indeterminate, the number of hand bacteria in 36 (85.7%) out of 42 samples decreased. The average rate of decrease was 49.4% and the maximum rate was 98.3%. Although the most effective duration of dry hand rubbing varied among individuals, we estimated that 2 minutes is optimal. As dry hand rubbing without disinfectants decreases hand bacteria, we suggest that it can be an effective alternate method in emergency situations when water, soap or disinfectants are unavailable.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, the fifth Grade, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Daichi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hira
authors.forename: Midori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Kaishi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gono
authors.forename: Takuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Sohei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamura
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masumoto
authors.forename: Masamichi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yasutomi
authors.forename: Chunlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Kazumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Hatsumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001831:Body Temperature; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D006235:Hand Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009038:Motion; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult