Evaluation of a benzalkonium chloride hand sanitizer in reducing transient Staphylococcus aureus bacterial skin contamination in health care workers.

Background: This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of a new commercially available hand sanitizer using 0.12% benzalkonium chloride (BZK) as the active ingredient in reducing transient skin contamination with Staphylococcus aureus in health care workers (HCWs), as compared with the effectiveness of a 70% ethanol-based hand sanitizer.

Methods: Fingertip touch culture plates were obtained from 40 HCWs in which all HCWs used antimicrobial soap containing 0.