Use of 90% ethanol to decontaminate stethoscopes in resource limited settings

In developing countries like Nepal, 90% ethanol is cheap and is available in most hospitals. The unavailability of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) in these settings led us to compare the efficacy between 90% ethanol and isopropyl alcohol pads in reducing the bacterial contamination of diaphragm of stethosco...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Antimicrobial resistance & infection control 2017-06, Vol.6 (1), p.68-68, Article 68
Main Authors: Raghubanshi, Bijendra Raj, Sapkota, Supriya, Adhikari, Arjab, Dutta, Aman, Bhattarai, Utsuk, Bhandari, Rastriyata
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
90% ethanol
Alcohol
Alcohol, Denatured
Antimicrobial agents
Cleaning
Cleaning compounds
Decontamination
Developing countries
Disease control
Disinfection and disinfectants
Drug resistance
Emergency medical care
Ethanol
Intensive care
Isopropyl alcohol
Laboratories
LDCs
Maintenance and repair
Medical dressings
Medical equipment
Medical instruments
Methods
Nosocomial infections
Pathogens
Staphylococcus infections
Stethoscopes
Teaching hospitals
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Summary:In developing countries like Nepal, 90% ethanol is cheap and is available in most hospitals. The unavailability of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) in these settings led us to compare the efficacy between 90% ethanol and isopropyl alcohol pads in reducing the bacterial contamination of diaphragm of stethoscope. A randomized blinded experimental study was carried out to determine the difference between cleaning stethoscopes with 90% ethanol and IPA. Cultures of diaphragm were taken before and after cleaning with one of the cleaning agent. Colony forming units (CFU) count and organism identification was done by a blinded investigator. CFU before and after cleaning were compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the decrease in CFU count between the cleaning agents. About 30% of the stethoscopes harbored potential pathogens. Significant reduction in CFU was observed with both IPA (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, value
ISSN:2047-2994
2047-2994
DOI:10.1186/s13756-017-0224-x