EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT BRANDS OF ALCOHOL-BASED HAND SANITIZERS AGAINST SOME SELECTED MICROORGANISMS

Abstract

Background

Hand washing is one of the key steps to disease prevention and health promotion. Hand sanitizers address the barriers to hand hygiene compliance because they require a fraction of the time for effective hand washing and they are more effective in killing many microorganisms. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of different brands of alcohol-based hand sanitizers against some selected microorganisms.

Materials and Methods

Four commonly used alcohol-based hand sanitizers within Owerri municipal were used for the study. They were analyzed using standard microbiological procedures. The agar well diffusion method was used to evaluate the efficacy of the hand sanitizers against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Candida albicans and Aspergillus flavus.

Results

The susceptibility patterns of the test organisms to the hand sanitizers shows that only Hand Sanitizer A was sensitive to the test organisms; E. coli (26.0 mm), S. aureus (25.5 mm), K. pneumoniae (19.0 mm), C. albicans (10.2 mm) and A. flavus (17.0 mm). The test organisms were resistant to Hand Sanitizers B, C and D. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of Hand Sanitizer A to the test organisms were determined at the highest concentration (100 mg/ml).

Conclusion

The findings of the study revealed that only Hand Sanitizer A inhibited the growth of all the test organisms in vitro. It was both bactericidal and fungicidal at the highest concentration (100 mg/ml). There is need to verify the claims of the manufacturers of hand sanitizers sold in consumer outlets so as to protect consumers from buying substandard products.