Skip to Content
Merck
  • Effectiveness of hand hygiene for removal of Clostridium difficile spores from hands.

Effectiveness of hand hygiene for removal of Clostridium difficile spores from hands.

Infection control and hospital epidemiology (2013-02-08)
Sarah L Edmonds, Carrie Zapka, Douglas Kasper, Robert Gerber, Robert McCormack, David Macinga, Stuart Johnson, Susan Sambol, Christopher Fricker, James Arbogast, Dale N Gerding
ABSTRACT

This study determined whether surrogate organisms can predict activity against Clostridium difficile spores and compared the efficacy of hand hygiene preparations against C. difficile. Our data suggest that surrogate organisms were not predictive of C. difficile spore removal. Four preparations were significantly more effective than tap water at removing C. difficile.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium hypochlorite solution, reagent grade, available chlorine 4.00-4.99 %
Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium hypochlorite solution, reagent grade, available chlorine 10-15 %
Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium hypochlorite solution, 6-14% active chlorine basis
Sigma-Aldrich
Triclosan, 97.0-103.0% (active substance, GC)