Evaluation of the Bactericidal Activity of Chlorhexidine Gluconate and Povidone-Iodine for Hygienic Hand Disinfection

With the aim of revaluating short-time hygienic hand disinfection in general wards, the efficacy of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) and povidone-iodine (PVI) was studied using the glove-juice procedure. In addition, the in vitro bactericidal activity of these antiseptics against 9 different bacterial strains was studied. Test groups of volunteers who disinfected their hands in a basin containing an aqueous solution of either 0.2% CHG or 0.2% PVI showed significantly inferior disinfection efficacy when compared to test groups which applied detergent solutions containing 4% CHG or 7.5% PVI directly onto their palms, scrubbed their hands, and washed the disinfectant away with running water, or to test groups which disinfected their hands by rubbing them with 0.2% CHG in 80% ethanol or 0.5% PVI in 80% ethanol. In addition, for the test groups which used CHG preparations (4% CHG in detergent, 0.2% CHG in 80% ethanol, or 0.2% aqueous CHG), the disinfection efficacy was maintained, even at 90 min after disinfection, as well as immediately after disinfection. However, for the test groups which used PVI preparations (7.5% PVI in detergent, 0.5% PVI in 80% ethanol, or 0.2% aqueous PVI), the disinfection efficacy at 90 min after disinfection was distinctly reduced. Furthermore, it became evident from the results of the in vitro bactericidal activity study that, compared to CHG, the bactericidal efficacy of PVI is reduced to a large extent in the presence of organic matter. These study results showed that the efficacy of CHG is superior to PVI, even in short-time hygienic hand disinfection.