Disinfection of gloved hands during routine care

A. Vogel (1, 2) , P. Brouqui (2, 1) , S. Boudjema (2, 1)

1 IHU Marseille - Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection
2 MEPHI - Microbes évolution phylogénie et infections

Healthcare-associated infections are a major issue in public health. After several decades of hand hygiene programmes, it is time to admit that we have failed to achieve our goal. One of the reasons is the overuse of gloves, which is in part justified by the nature of the nursing care. Several experimental studies supported the effectiveness of disinfecting gloves, but evidence for routine feasibility and effectiveness is lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of alcohol-based disinfection of gloves during nursing care. Swabs were taken from the most contaminated part of both hands at different times: T0 (before wearing gloves), T10 (after 10 minutes of nursing care) from both gloves, T10A (just after the gloves were disinfected for 30 seconds with bedside disposable hydroalcoholic solution) and when possible at T20 and T20A. After 10 minutes of nursing care, gloves were contaminated in 72.5% of cases. After alcohol-based disinfection, gloves became free of microorganism in 79.3% of cases. Alcohol-based disinfection of gloves during routine care is effective and appears to be a reasonable alternative to current recommendations.

Keywords: Disinfection; gloves hand; hygiene nosocomial; infection; nursing research; pathogen

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Virology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Parasitology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Cardiology and cardiovascular system; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Emerging diseases; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases

A. Vogel, P. Brouqui, S. Boudjema. Disinfection of gloved hands during routine care. New Microbes and New Infections, 2021, 41, pp.100855. ⟨10.1016/j.nmni.2021.100855⟩. ⟨hal-03334143⟩