title: Evaluation of the efficacy of antibacterial medical gloves in the ICU setting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inappropriate use of medical gloves may support microbial transmission. New strategies could increase the safety of medical gloves without the risk of patient and surface contamination.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy of synthetic antibacterial nitrile medical gloves coated with polyhexamethylen-biguanid hydrochloride (PHMB) on the external surface with identical non-antibacterial medical gloves in reducing glove contamination after common patient care measures in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  ICU staff wore either standard or antibacterial gloves during patient care activities. The number of bacteria on gloves was measured semi-quantitatively immediately after the performance of four clinical activities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant difference in mean bacterial growth [colony-forming units (cfu)] between control gloves and antibacterial gloves {60 [standard deviation (SD) 23] vs 16 (SD 23) cfu/glove imprint, P < 0.001}. In three of the four clinical activities (intravenous fluid handling, oral toilet and physiotherapy), the antibacterial gloves had significantly less bacterial contamination compared with the control gloves (P = 0.011 and <0.001, respectively). Although antibacterial gloves showed lower bacterial contamination after changing linen compared with control gloves, the difference was not significant (P = 0.311).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that use of antibacterial medical gloves significantly reduced bacterial contamination after typical patient care activities in 57% of the investigated clinical activities (P < 0.01). The use of antibacterial medical gloves may support reduction of cross-contamination in the ICU setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kahar Bador
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rai
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Department of Infection Control, University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Yusof
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.affiliation: Institute for Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK. Electronic address: o.assadian@hud.ac.uk.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Assadian
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000592:standards; D001645:Biguanides; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D017575:Gloves, Protective / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000592:standards; D005932:Gloves, Surgical / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000592:standards; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001645:Biguanides; C031233:polihexanide
keywords: Antibacterial glove; Medical glove; Surface transmission