Spray dispensing of antiseptics is effective for hand disinfection

The effectiveness of three hand antiseptics administered using a spray dispenser (Nebucid 840) was studied together with that of conventional hand disinfection. The tests were carried out by a group of 20 dental students. To obtain baseline samples, the subjects washed their hands with unmedicated Sterisol liquid soap under running water for 30s and dried them on sterile-packed paper towels. Microbiologic samples were taken from fingerprints pressed gently onto blood agar plates, which were then incubated aerobically and analyzed. The hand disinfection efficacy of 3 ml Isosept solution rubbed onto the hands for 30 s, followed by air drying for 60 s, was studied as a conventional control method. Dermocol, HD 410, and Hibisol antiseptics were sprayed onto the subjects' hands for 3 s using the automatic dispenser, after which the hands were gently rubbed for 30 s and air-dried for 60 s, before fingerprint contact sampling. All the tests were performed three times, with a minimum of 3 days between the series. The results showed Hibisol applied with the spray dispenser to be significantly more effective in reducing bacterial growth than the other methods. No growth was observed on 51 plates out of 60, while bacterial growth was observed in 29 cases out of 60 in the Isosept series. In most cases the spray-dispensed antiseptics proved to be more efficient than the conventional hand antiseptic. All the antiseptics were significantly more effective than the liquid soap.