The most effective way to eliminate C. difficile bacteria from the hands of health-care workers is with simple soap and water, conclude Canadian researchers.
The study by Dr. Michael Libman, director of the division of infectious diseases at the McGill University Health Centre finds that the old-fashioned way of cleaning hands is much more effective than alcohol-based solutions.
Libman recruited 10 volunteers and contaminated their hands with Clostridium difficile, one of the most difficult bacteria to combat in hospitals settings. The volunteers washed with either:
- Regular soap and warm or cold water,
- Antiseptic soap and warm water,
- An alcohol-based solution,
- And a disinfectant towel.
"The results were striking: the protocols that involved washing with water eliminated more than 98 per cent of the bacteria, while washing with an alcohol-based solution eliminated almost none! The protocol involving a disinfectant towel eliminated around 95 per cent of bacteria." Dr. Matthew Oughton, a researcher in Libman's team, said in a statement.
Oughton presented the study results at the 47th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago earlier this week.
Oughton explains that bacteria within the C. difficile family have the ability to produce spores when under stress. These highly resistant spores then produce new bacteria when favourable conditions return. Eliminating the spores is a major part of the challenge in controlling the bacteria.
Oughton says their team believes that alcohol eliminates the living bacteria but not the spores. But the mechanical action of washing combined with the chemical action of soap eliminates both.
The study authors note that alcohol "hand rubs" remain effective and convenient for routine hand hygiene and eliminating non-spore producing bacteria. However, they recommend using soap and water whenever contamination with C. difficile is suspected.
