Abstract
After the reevaluation of chlorohexidine gluconate (Hibitane), the hand disinfection method in our department was switched to wiping the hands with a paper towel instead of with a “squeezed towel”, towel dipped in a Hibitane solution from which the Hibitane solution is squeezed out.
The purpose of this study was to compare the contamination of the finger surface immediately after disinfecting the hands by the above two methods.
The specimens were taken from the staff members in our department by pressing the fingers on the BHI agar plate containing the neutralizing inhibitor of Hibitane and then incubated at 37°C for 7 days.
The results obtained were as follows:
1) Of the 60 samples, 29 (48%) were culture-positive in the “squeezed towel” group and 190 (46%) out of the 409 samples were culture-positive in the paper towel group. Little difference was found between the paper towel and the “squeezed towel” group in respect to the degree of contamination.
2) The average time of hand disinfection in the paper towel group was 15.8 seconds, which was obviously shorter than as indicated by the instruction for Hibiscrub. When we washed the hands according to the instruction, the contamination was remarkably reduced.
