ABSTRACT

Decontamination of hands is accomplished by hand washing with soap or by use of waterless hand sanitizers. Hand sanitizers is formulated and used to reduce bacterial load on the skin. This study is aimed at comparing the activity of six alcohol based hand sanitizers (DETTOL, TONAK, HIGEEN, PURELL, LOVEILLEA and BLACKBERRY GERM BLASTER )sold in Umuahia, Abia state, Nigeria, against clinical bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Susceptibility of the bacterial isolates was evaluated using the agar well diffusion method by measuring the zones of inhibition observed after 24hours of incubation. Their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were also determined using the broth dilution technique. TOK® and BBG® hand sanitizer had the highest zones of inhibition (30mm) against Staphylococcus aureus and an average of 20mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. PURELL hand sanitizer indicated highest antibacterial potency as it completely inhibited the test organisms. Thus PURELL hand sanitizer was the most effective of all the tested hand sanitizer with a MIC and MBC of 1.52% and 3.125% both for Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These studies shows that alcohol based hand sanitizers have different potency to achieve effective hand hygiene.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE 1

Title page i

Certification ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgment iv

 Table of content v

Abstract

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Aims 3

1.3 Objectives of this study 3

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review 4

2.1 Types of hand sanitizers 5

2.2 Uses of hand sanitizers 7

2.3 Areas of application 8

2.4 Safety 9

2.5 Effectiveness 11

2.6 The organisms used 13

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Materials and methods 17

3.1 Assessment of Antibacterial potency of Hand Sanitizers 19

3.2 Determination of minimum concentration (MIC) and Minimum 

      Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) 20

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Results 21

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Discussion and Recommendations 28

5.1 Conclusions 29

5.2 Recommendations 29

      References 30