INFECTION PREVENTION

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Effective and efficient

or healthcare professionals

F and staff required to

undertake aseptic
operations, hands, whether

hand sanitisation
gloved or ungloved, present a
risk of contamination transfer.
Such contamination includes an
array of skin bacteria
commensurables including Tim Sandle, head of microbiology, Bio Products Laboratory
Staphylococci and Micrococci.
Importantly, hospital-acquired
infections can also be
transferred via the hands
including Methicillin Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA), Clostidium difficile
and Vancomycin-Resistant
Enterococcus. Such bacteria are
most often spread from one
person to another by contact,
usually on the hands of
caregivers such as medical or
nursing staff and family and
friends. The bacteria can live for
weeks on hands and objects
such as bed rails, call buttons,
bedpans, door handles or even
men’s neckties.

Minimising bacteria

Ensuring that hands are clean

and that the number of bacteria
carried on the hands is
minimised is of great
importance. To do this it is
important to wash hands with
soap and water on entering the
ward or pharmacy. Washing
with soap and water can reduce
the number of resident skin flora
considerably. However, consideration, however, is the Staphylococcus aureus and provides an effective solution
problems can arise with bactericidal properties of the Escherichia coli). for minimising the risks
transient bacteria (that is hand sanitizer. This means the
The results were reproducible, associated with the transfer of
microorganisms picked up from ability of the sanitizer to reduce as demonstrated using 15 test contamination.
surface or from other people) the number of bacteria carried subjects.
which can be potentially on the hands by a considerable
The bactericidal properties of

transferred from staff to number. The only way to desderman pure were equivalent
patients. effectively demonstrate this is to an alcohol used as the
For critical steps, such as under experimental conditions international control standard.
staff-to-patient contact or for and not all of the hand sanitizers
Those taking part in the

dispensing medicine, it is available have been tested to an experiment noted that

especially important that hands
are very clean. For this the use
of a hand sanitizer is important.
There are a range of different
hand sanitizers available, such
as shülke’s desderman pure. The
most effective are the alcoholic
based hand rubs.
When choosing a hand
sanitizer, there are a number of
different criteria to consider.
These include practical
considerations such as being
presented in the right size and
being able to be dispensed in a
way which ensures that the
correct amount of liquid is used.
The sanitizer must also be
pleasant for the staff to use. This
includes not irritating the skin or
drying it out excessively and
having an inoffensive odour.
The most important
appropriate standard and fewer
have been independently
verified. Care must be taken
when selecting a hand sanitizer
because several contain less
than the recommended 60%
minimum alcohol content.
Meets the criteria
One hand sanitizer which meets
all of the above criteria is
shülke’s desderman pure. This
is an alcoholic based hand
sanitizer which comes in several
different sizes. Desderman pure
was subject to an independent
study at an NHS laboratory. The
study showed that:

desderman pure eliminated
hundreds of thousands of
bacteria on both gloved and
ungloved hands (using both
desderman pure was “soft on the
hands”, “easy to use” and had a
“pleasant odour…much better
that others that we’ve tried”.
Hand sanitizers need to be
used correctly in order to be
effective. All sides of the hands
need to be rubbed vigorously
with enough liquid to get them
wet. The hands need to be
rubbed together, covering back
and front of the hands and each
of the fingers, until they are dry.
This should take between 30
and 60 seconds. If the hands are
dry within 10 or 15 seconds,
then not enough sanitizer has
been applied.
Provided that the
recommended hand rubbing
procedure is followed and that
the hand rub is used at regular
intervals, desderman pure ENQUIRY NO. 000

00 October 2010 Inside Hospitals