Nivel de contaminación-descontaminación de la epidermis de las manos medida por luminiscencia

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the level of contamination-decontamination of the epidermis from the hands of a group of nurses, pre and post antisepsis of skin with an antiseptic soap and hydro-alcoholic solution, measured by luminescence. METHODOLOGY: Randomized clinical trial opened. Random Selection of 30 nurses. Comparison of hand hygiene procedure of the WHO using chlorhexidine-based products (CBP) and ethanol (EBP). Measurement by chemiluminescence method (Relative Light Units). Descriptive and dispersion statistics RESULTS: The average level of contamination was 1321.7 RLU (critical contamination of skin) and the median of 783.5 URL (very dirty skin). The level of decontamination was 470.4 RLU (something clean skin); and the median of 221.5 RLU (clean skin). The reduction averaged 77.6% for CBP and 41.2% for the EBP. CONCLUSIONS: The skin of hands are continuously exposed to critical levels of contamination arising from the care activity of professionals. A proper asepsis of hands, independent of the antiseptic, reduced the 50% that level. In this study the luminescence did not provide good reliability (false positive) on the use of EBP.