EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ALCOHOL-BASED HAND SANITIZERS ON SOME SELECTED GRAM-NEGATIVE ORGANISMS

ABSTRACT

Hand hygiene is defined as any method employed to remove or destroy microorganisms on hands. Some of the identified hindrance to hand hygiene compliance includes lack of easy access to hand hygiene at the point of care, insufficient time, forgetfulness and skin irritation. The aim of this research work was to evaluate the effectiveness of alcohol-based hand sanitizers on some selected clinical and environmental isolates (Gram-negative organisms). Three (03) different brands of alcohol-based hand sanitizers (2Sure, Dettol and Carex) were purchased from local supermarket outlet in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria. The clinical bacterial isolates used for this research work were obtained from the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) while the environmental isolates were obtained from the Department of Microbiology, University of Benin. The isolates were confirmed using cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics. The test isolates was standardized using McFarland standard. The antibacterial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of the test isolate to the different hand sanitizers were done using the well variant of the agar diffusion method and broth dilution method respectively. The zone of inhibition of 2Sure hand sanitizer ranged from 12.00 ± 1.53mm (E. coli) – 19.00 ± 1.53mm (Proteus sp.) for the clinical isolates, while for the environmental isolates, it ranged from 9.00 ± 0.00 mm (K. pneumoniae) – 20.67 ± 2.33mm (P. aeruginosa). Dettol hand sanitizer was only effective on P. aeruginosa with a zone of inhibition of 5.00 ± 3.89 mm for the clinical isolates. Carex hand sanitizer had a zone of inhibition range from 2.33 ± 2.33 mm (E. coli) – 9.67 ± 0.33 mm (K. pneumoniae) for the clinical isolate while the environmental isolates had a range of 11.00 ± 0.58 mm (S. typhi) – 13.33 ± 0.67 mm (P. aeruginosa). The Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2Sure hand sanitizer was at 100% concentration for clinical and environmental isolates of E.coli and K. pnuemoniae while Proteus sp.and P.aeruginosa had an MIC of 100% and 80% respectively. The MIC of Dettol hand sanitizer on the clinical and environmental isolate of P.aeruginosa   was at 100%. The MIC of carex hand sanitizer of the clinical and environmental isolate of P.aeruginosa, K. pnuemoniae, E.coli and S.typhi was also at 100% concentration. The Minimum bactericidal concentration on the clinical and environmental test isolate was 100% concentration for E.coli, Proteus sp., P.aeruginosa, K. pnuemoniae and S.typhi. These hand sanitizers displayed bacteriostatic and bactericidal activities against at least one of the test organisms, this is attributable to the presence of alcohols as the main active ingredients in the composition of the products.Regulatory authorities and manufacturers should enforce stringent quality control measures during production and routine inspections to ensure the efficacy of these products.