Hand hygiene at the time of surgery is performed to reduce the number of resident bacteria. Alcohol-based hand-rubbings containing chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) are widely used as quick-drying antiseptics. Although alcohol-based hand-rubbings containing 0.2 to 0.5 w/v％ CHG had been used, alcohol-based hand-rubbings containing 1 w/v％ CHG were approved in 2010. In the present study, the bactericidal activity of alcohol-based hand-rubbing containing 1 w/v％ CHG for 27 microbes containing clinical isolates was determined. The alcohol-based hand-rubbing containing 1 w/v％ CHG killed all microbes such as Gram-positive and -negative bacteria and fungi within 15 sec. Furthermore, the alcohol-based hand rubbing containing 1 w/v％ CHG killed the antimicrobial-resistant nosocomial pathogens such as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRP) within 15 sec. Therefore, our data shows that alcohol-based hand-rubbings containing 1 w/v％ CHG are able to kill resident bacteria and pathogenic microbes including antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in a short time.
