Comparison of virucidal activity of alcohol-based hand sanitizers versus antimicrobial hand soaps in vitro and in vivo

J Hosp Infect. 2012 Dec;82(4):277-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2012.08.005. Epub 2012 Sep 23.

Abstract

Three ethanol-based sanitizers were compared with three antimicrobial liquid soaps for their efficacy to inactivate polio-, adeno-, vaccinia- and bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) as well as feline calicivirus (FCV) and murine norovirus (MNV) as surrogates for human norovirus in a suspension test. Additionally, sanitizers and soaps were examined against MNV in a modified fingerpad method. All sanitizers sufficiently inactivated the test viruses in the suspension test whereas two soaps were active only against vaccinia virus and BVDV. In the modified fingerpad test a povidone-iodine-containing soap was superior to the sanitizers whereas the other two soaps showed no activity.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Alcohols / administration & dosage
  • Antiviral Agents / administration & dosage*
  • Disinfectants / administration & dosage*
  • Hand Disinfection / methods*
  • Humans
  • Microbial Viability / drug effects
  • Soaps / administration & dosage
  • Viruses / drug effects*

Substances

  • Alcohols
  • Antiviral Agents
  • Disinfectants
  • Soaps