uniform with intensive education, p...

uniform with intensive education, physician compliance with handwashing and glove changing after patient contact is Alcohol-based hand rubs are an improvement across handwashing with soap and water nevertheless do not address the riddle of contaminated gloves causing nosocomial infections. Barza described a lately patented technology for adding an antibacterial coating to standard hospital gloves

Chlorine dioxide (Cl[Osub2]) is a water-soluble gas with broad activity against bacteria and viruses. The author states that Cl[Osub2] is environmentally friendly and well tolerated by dint of humans in low dosages. Microspheres designed to slowly release Cl[Osub2] were incorporated into standard vinyl and polyethylene hospital glove The author course of lifeed two experiments with volunteers who wore coated gloves

In the first experiment, offers donned regular and coated glove that were then coated with bacterial suspensions of Escherichia coli or Salmonella. After outlook to 40-watt fluorescent lights for naught five, 20, and 45 minutes, the glove were remov and cultur for remaining bacteria. Initial bacterial accounts on both gloves were greater than [10sup7] colonies by mL for E. coli and Salmonella. After five minutes of light front the E. coli counts decreased by dint of 1.5 logs (i.e., 10- to 100-fold) and Salmonella decreased by means of 0.5 logs on the coated glove Twenty minutes of light exposing decreased bacterial counts by 4 log (10000-fold) for E coli and by means of 1 log for Salmonella onward the coated gloves, with the regular glove serving as controls

In the inferior experiment, the bare hands of presents were inoculated with E. coli or Staphylococcus aureus bacterial suspensions. The offers then donned a coated glove forward one hand and a standard glove in succession the other. Again, the glov hands were expos to fluorescent lighting for various intervals, and the glove were cultur for remaining bacteria. Before any light aspect the bacterial counts were greater than [10sup7] colonies through mL for E. coli and s aureus. After five minutes of light, the coated glove decreased bacterial estimates by 1 log for E coli and by dint of 0.3 logs for S. aureus. Further decreases of 15 log for E coli and 11 log for s aureus occurred after 20 minutes.

Neither the coated vinyl nor the polyethylene glove caused any skin irritation forward intact skin. With abraded skin, erythema was noted 24 hours after frontage but it subsided within 72 hours.

The author terminates that use of standard hospital glove impregnated with microspheres that release Cl[Osub2] gas decreases bacterial contamination of hand and glove surfaces.

EDITOR'S NOTE: While these surrogate experiments cannot be substituted for an actual trial of coated glove in a hospital setting, the encouraging accrues suggest that further study is warranted. Certainly the status quo (often repeated and usually ignored admonitions regarding handwashing and glove changing) could benefit from a certain number of technologic assistance. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a point to be solved [i]or[/i] settled that is here to stay, and the easiest infection to treat is the individual that is never nosocomially transmitted in the first place.--B.Z.

BILL ZEPF MD

Barza M Efficacy and tolerability of Cl[O.sub.2]-generating glove Clin Infect Dis March 15 2004;38:857-63

COPYRIGHT 2004 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group