Alcohol v Non Alcohol Hand Sanitiser some key points

The efficacy of alcohol-free hand sanitizers is heavily dependent on their ingredients and formulation . In the past, alcohol-free hand sanitisers tended to significantly under-perform alcohol or alcohol rubs as germ killers in clinical studies using standard protocols such as EN1500.
More recently, advanced formulations have been developed, some of which have been shown to out-perform alcohol. A further aspect of efficacy sometimes overlooked is the effect of repeated use.
The efficacy of alcohol as a hand disinfectant has been shown to decrease after repeated use, probably due to progressive adverse skin reactions, whereas the efficacy of an alcohol-free hand sanitiser based on Benzalkonium Chloride as its active active ingredient has been shown to increase with repeated use.
In a recent study, the effectiveness of alcohol was shown to decrease after repeated use. The study demonstrated that, unlike Benzalkonium Chloride, alcohol does not have persistent or cumulative antimicrobial activity after application.
Purell has been shown to fail to meet the FDA 21 CFR 333.470 performance standards for health-care personnel antiseptic hand washes not just as a consequence of the decrease in effectiveness with repeated use, but due to a lack of persistence in antimicrobial activity after application and the decrease in effectiveness with heavy soil loads.

Use of Ultra P in Dentistry: no blood, sweat or tears!

Any kind of periodontal treatment will affect the gum’s rich blood supply and the result can be profuse bleeding. Of course, every trace of blood must be removed from dental instruments to reduce the risk of cross infection. The unique blend of powdered polymer, cationic surfactants and inorganic salts has been formulated to ensure that Ultra P decontaminant removes 99.9% of organic soiling, so you can enjoy the peace of mind of totally effective cleaning - and so can your patients!

Ultra P instrument cleaner removes all traces of pathogens; the super concentrated quick dissolving formulation cleans at molecular level, removing  all potentially harmful residues from dental instruments and delicate devices. And, Ultra P is also gentle enough to clean heat sensitive instruments. 

Requiring only a 10 minute contact time, this is a very fast acting product that has a superb clinical pedigree.

For more detailed information about Ultra P and other products in the Ebiox product portfolio, go to http://www.ebiox.co.uk/ or email sales@ebiox.co.uk

An exciting development with the Ebiox Esense Hand Hygiene Range

We are excited to announce the introduction of its first hand hygiene product based on sustainable natural ingredients, Natural Esense™. Extracted from the pith of Seville Oranges (Citrus Aurantium), Natural Esense is a proprietary formula, and is classed under the Bioflavonoid Complex classification.
Tested extensively to European regulatory standards and other supporting studies, Natural Esense provides  effective bacterial, virucidal, fungicidal and sporicidal protection. 
“The use of synthetically produced chemicals has been a mainstay of our industry for decades, and it has worked. Now, being able to achieve positive results with a natural complex is an exciting development.,” said Ebiox commercial director Jeff Smith.  “Based on early response in the marketplace we expect many others will share our enthusiasm for this safe, effective, environmentally friendly antimicrobial.”
We are seeing a growing interest in non alcohol based products especially within hand hygiene with Infection Prevention and Control teams looking for answers to help drive forward the levels of compliance to their  hand hygiene protocols.
Natural Esense will be made available in a variety of dispensing systems.

Is the tide beginning to turn?

As we know and indeed we have written about ourselves not all healthcare workers comply with their hand hygiene protocols due to the current product for hand rubs being alcohol based.

Alcohol is supported in guidelines by many key authorities and this in itself is creating a barrier against improving compliance as many hospitals will not “go against” these guidelines, and therefore not offering proven non alcohol based products.

Ebiox has been focussing on helping improve compliance in the healthcare setting, by working with those healthcare workers who have suffered with the use of alcohol hand rubs. No more so than the IPO Hospital in Porto, where an evaluation has been conducted using the Ebiox Esense Hand Sanitising Foam Rub especially by those who have problems with the use of alcohol.

The evaluation has been completed and this has led to the Commission to recommend to the Hygiene and Safety at Work Department that Esense should always be readily available to those workers who have “ intolerance to the utilization of alcohol as hand disinfectant”.

Everyone should be working towards the best hand hygiene practice as the evidence shows that it is the most effective way of reducing HCAI’s. What the IPO Hospital Porto has shown is that there is a key place for Esense non alcohol based hand sanitizing product in best practice as well as providing Duty of Care to both staff and patients.

Time for Change

As an active biocide, alcohol has limitations. With frequent use, alcohol-based sanitisers can irritate the skin and damage certain surface materials. In addition, they require special secure storage due to their flammable nature. They also are known to evaporate quickly – possibly before they have finished their intended task. Some epidemiologists allege that the alcohol content of many hand hygiene products dissipates before users can reasonably complete the widely-prescribed Ayliffe Technique for applying the product. Still, alcohol-based hand sanitisers are the only ones made available to the majority of healthcare workers. Does this make sense? – especially considering that non-alcohol based alternatives have been tested, approved and are now available. 

Trionic A2Z Area Disinfection Dry Mist System

We are very excited to announce that we have signed an agreement with Amazon Bio-Guard Ltd a company which offers a system for total room or vehicle disinfection.

There is a growing demand for total room or vehicle disinfection and there are a number of competitors already offering such devices into our market sector, however there can be a number of issues with the current offering, process time, complex protocols, complex systems, cost, damage to materials in the room and surface wetting.

The Trionic A2Z Area Disinfection System has a number of features which provides answers to a number of these issues:

         Simple and easy to use system
         No complex protocols
         Shorter process times
         No surface wetting
         Cost effective

We believe this is an excellent addition to our product portfolio, one which offers many opportunities and the potential for pull through of other products such as Trionic wipes. Our aim as Ebiox is to offer a comprehensive range of solutions for Infection Prevention and Control.

Interesting Article Online HES Healthcare Equipment and Supplies

Hand hygiene and HCAIs: Why it is time to look at alternatives to alcohol-based antimicrobial hand rubs.

Anyone with an interest in Infection Prevention and Control and a focus on Hand Hygiene should find this article of great interest.

It would be good to hear peoples thoughts.