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Abstract
We studied the effect of a 1-min hand wash on the bacterial hand flora in two consecutive surgical hand disinfection procedures. A propanol-based hand rub (PBHR; Sterillium®) and n-propanol (60%, v/v) were tested in a Latin-square design according to EN 12791 in four variations. The reference alcohol was always applied for 3 min after a 1-min hand wash (variation 1). The PBHR was applied for 1.5 min (first application) or 0.5 min (second application). Variation 2 included a 1-min hand wash before both applications, variation 3 included the hand wash before application 1, in variation 4 hands were not washed at all before application. Pre- and post-values were obtained according to EN 12791. The reference disinfection reduced bacteria by 2.99 log10 (immediate efficacy) and 2.22 log10 after 3 h. The second reference disinfection reduced bacteria by 0.95 log10 (immediate efficacy) and 0.68 log10 after 3 h. The PBHR always yielded an equivalent reduction with and without a preceding hand wash (p>0.05; Friedman test). A 1-min hand wash before application of the PBHR did not significantly change its efficacy for surgical hand disinfection in two consecutive surgical procedures of 3 h.