Abstract

---

Hands remain a potent medium of transmission of infectious diseases, while hand hygiene using handwash remains an effective tool for the prevention of this transmission. This study aimed at investigating the susceptibility profiles of multiple antibiotic resistant bacterial isolates associated with the palms of students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to selected anti-bacterial handwashes marketed in Nigeria. Following identification of the bacterial isolates using conventional biochemical tests and determination of their susceptibility profiles to antibiotics using the disc diffusion technique, the susceptibility profiles of fifty multiple antibiotic resistant bacterial isolates to seven selected handwashes marketed in Nigeria were determined using the agar well diffusion technique. The bacteria used in order of prevalence include: Staphylococcus epidermidis (32%), Micrococcus spp (18%), S. aureus (16%), Corynebacterium spp (10%), Listeria monocytogenes (4%), S. saprophyticus (4%), Streptococcus spp (4%), Bacillus subtilis (2%), E. coli (2%), Klebsiella spp (2%), Neisseria spp (2%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2%). All the isolates were resistant to at least two different antibiotics and displayed varying degrees of susceptibility to the selected handwashes being evaluated. The percentage susceptibilities of the isolates to handwashes were 2sure (56%), carex (28%), lavara (22%), roots (16%), dawn (16%), PP densa (10%) and olive (10%), respectively. The study concluded that antibacterial handwashes marketed in Nigeria had activity against multiple antibiotic resistant bacterial isolates associated with palms and could be effective in the management of infectious diseases that can be transmitted through hands.

Keywords: Antibacterial, antimicrobial, handwash, palmar, resistant