Modified World Health Organization hand rub formulations comply with European efficacy requirements for preoperative surgical hand preparations.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has published "Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care" recommending 2 hand rub formulations based on 80% vol/vol ethanol or 75% vol/vol isopropanol for local production in healthcare settings where commercial products are not available or are too expensive. Previous investigations have shown that neither formulation meets the efficacy requirements of European norm (EN) 12791, which is the most stringent available norm for surgical hand rub preparations. Even when modified with approximately 5% higher alcohol content, the formulations proved to be inferior to the reference of the norm when measured after 3 hours.

Testing of the World Health Organization recommended formulations in their application as hygienic hand rubs and proposals for increased efficacy.

Background: In Central Europe, alcohol-based hand rubs have been the preferred choice for hand hygiene, whereas, in other countries, other preparations have been used that are based on other active agents. Recently, a move towards alcohol-based hand rubs has begun, but they may be costly and unaffordable to some. Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended 2 hand rub formulations (WHO I and WHO II) for local production in health care settings where commercial products are not available or are too expensive.

Surgical hand antisepsis with alcohol-based hand rub: comparison of effectiveness after 1.5 and 3 minutes of application.

Objective: Research has shown 1.5 minutes of surgical hand antisepsis with alcohol-based hand rub to be at least as effective under experimental conditions as the 3-minute reference disinfection recommended by European Norm 12791. The aim of the present study was to validate the effectiveness of 1.

Surgical hand rub: Influence of duration of application on the immediate and 3-hours effects of n-propanol and isopropanol.

Background: The recommended duration for surgical hand treatment has been changed from 10 over 5 to 3 minutes and even shorter.

Objectives: Our objective was to study the impact of the length of surgical hand antisepsis with n-propanol 60% (vol/vol) or isopropanol 70% (vol/vol) applied for 1, 3, or 5 minutes on the reduction of resident hand flora in the setting of the microbiologic laboratory for experimental and applied testing of disinfectants and antiseptics at the Medical University Vienna, Austria, using a Latin Square design.

Methods: Our methods were according to the Austrian Guidelines for Testing Products for Surgical Hand Antisepsis.

Extended double disc synergy testing reveals a low prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in Enterobacter spp. in Vienna, Austria.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) in AmpC-carrying Enterobacter spp. in a tertiary care university hospital in Vienna, Austria, and to implement a cost-effective strategy to detect ESBLs in this particular genus on a routine basis.

Methods: Clinical Enterobacter isolates (n=208) were investigated by means of (i) an inhibitor-potentiated diffusion test using cefpodoxime, (ii) an expanded double disc diffusion synergy test (discs of cefotaxime, ceftazidime, cefpodoxime and cefepime placed around amoxicillin/clavulanic acid), (iii) the Etest ESBL screening method and (iv) the cefoxitin-cefotaxime antagonist test.

Population kinetics of the skin flora on gloved hands following surgical hand disinfection with 3 propanol-based hand rubs: a prospective, randomized, double-blind trial.

Objective: To study the bacterial population kinetics on gloved hands following hand treatment with 3 optically indistinguishable, alcohol-based surgical hand rubs, with and without supplements to delay bacterial regrowth.

Design: Prospective, randomized, double-blind, balanced quasi-Greco-Latin square design.

Setting: Microbiology laboratory of the Medical University Vienna, Austria.

Development of novel real-time PCR assays for detection and differentiation of eleven medically important Aspergillus and Candida species in clinical specimens.

In the present study, novel real-time PCR assays targeting the fungal ITS2 region were developed for the detection and differentiation of medically important Aspergillus species (Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus terreus) and Candida species (Candida albicans, Candida dubliniensis, Candida glabrata, Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis, and Candida tropicalis) using a LightCycler instrument. The combination of a group-specific and a universal primer with five Aspergillus or six Candida species-specific biprobes in one reaction mixture facilitated rapid screening and species differentiation by the characteristic peak melting temperatures of the biprobes. Both assays can be performed either as single assays or simultaneously in the same LightCycler run.

"I wash my hands of it!?" - Trends in hand hygiene over the past decades.

Hand hygiene is the most important measure to protect against the spread of nosocomial infections. With the development of in vitro und in vivo test methods for evaluation of the effect of hand hygiene, there has been a sharp increase over the past 50 years in the body of knowledge relating to effective methods for removal from the hands or killing and inactivation of pathogens. In 1958 the German Society of Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM) published a first "Guidelines for Testing Chemical Disinfectants" and included only those hand disinfection products on its "List of Tested Chemical Disinfectants Found To Be Effective" that had been tested as per the methods cited in the guidelines.

Comparison of a new commercial test, GLABRATA RTT, with a dipstick test for rapid identification of Candida glabrata.

This study compares the performance of a 3-h dipstick trehalose test with GLABRATA RTT, a new commercially available 20-min test for the rapid identification of Candida glabrata. With the exception of blood agar, GLABRATA RTT gave reliable results with all media tested and was always superior to the dipstick test.

Reliability of nested PCR for detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in atheromas: results from a multicenter study applying standardized protocols.

The present multicenter study was designed to find explanations for the discrepancies in the reported rates of detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in endarterectomy specimens. Coded identical sets of (i) a C. pneumoniae DNA dilution series (panel 1; n = 10), (ii) spiked control tissue specimens (panel 2; n = 10 specimens, including 5 negative controls), and (iii) endarterectomy specimens (panel 3; 15 atheromas, 5 negative controls) were analyzed at four laboratories by three standardized DNA extraction methods in each laboratory and a nested touchdown PCR protocol targeting the ompA gene of C.

Sensor-operated faucets: a possible source of nosocomial infection?

Recently, contamination of sensor-operated faucets (SOFs) with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was observed. To evaluate odds ratios, we conducted a case-control study in which handle-operated faucets served as controls. No statistically significant difference in P.