Activity of non antiseptic soaps and ethanol for hand disinfection

This study was done to investigate the antibacterial efficacy of the successive use of non-antiseptic soaps with different pH and ethanol at different dilutions during in-use tests on the natural cutaneous flora for both surgical and hospital hand-washing. The successive combinations of detergents and alcohol were less effective than the use of alcohol alone. The influence of humidity and pH could be taken into consideration. The antibacterial effect of ethanol after hand-washing is relatively slow. Taking into account this delayed effect, the antibacterial action of soap + ethanol is of the same order as that obtained with antiseptic preparations which have more efficient immediate results. The existence of large individual variations during repeated assays suggests an important role of local phenomena in the cutaneous coat. Thus for surgical purposes (= with glove-wearing), the use of ethanol after hand-washing with an acidic soap could be taken into consideration, but for hygienic purposes (= immediate effect, without glove-wearing) the application of ethanol after hand-washing with non antiseptic soap is not advantageous from a bacteriological quantitative point of view.