Hand hygiene plays a key role in the prevention, control and reduction of many communicable infections as contaminated hands are the major source of transmission for microbes. Three categories of hand hygiene products; hand sanitizers (Safeguard, Dettol, and Cool & Cool hand sanitizers), antibacterial soaps (Safeguard, Dettol, and Lifebuoy liquid soaps) and plain soaps (Lux, Capri, and Pears liquid soaps) were evaluated against five bacterial cultures (E. coli, K. pneumonia, Salmonella. spp, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa) for their antibacterial activity through in vivo and in vitro techniques. In vivo testing was performed through palmar surface contamination techniques. Palm surfaces of volunteers' hands were artificially contaminated followed by recovery of the bacteria through glove juice method both before and after the application of product for 30 seconds. Each of the experiment repeated thrice and means log reduction (MLR) in the bacterial count after the application of each product was calculated. In vitro efficacy of hand hygiene products was carried out through calculation of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and phenol coefficient values.
MLR values of the sanitizers were ranged from 2.0 - 5.5 log10 CFU/ml, while that of antibacterial and plain soaps were 3.0 - 4.1 and 3.0 - 4.6 log10 CFU/ml. MIC values for the sanitizers, antibacterial, and plain soaps were ranged from 1:10 - 1:40, 1:6 - 1:20, and 1:2 - 1:8 against all of the 5 bacteria. Hand sanitizers were proved to be superior to medicated and plain soaps during in vivo and in vitro testing. Both of the antibacterial and plain soaps were equally effective in reducing bacterial load on the contaminated hands because during hand washing procedure mechanical removal of contaminants through surfactant activity of soaps is mostly responsible for the removal of bacteria. While a relatively higher MIC values of the antibacterial soaps were attributed to the presence of certain antibacterial agents in them. It was not possible to calculate the phenol coefficient values for any of the hand hygiene product because even least dilutions (1:2) of the products did not stop the bacterial growth. Present study emphasizes the suitability of using hand sanitizers in health care centers as well as in routine life. Because of comparable efficacy of medicated and plain soaps, excessive use of antibacterial soaps should be avoided due to risk of developing antibiotic resistance.