Microbiological Evaluation of the Efficacy of Soapy Water to Clean Hands: A Randomized,Non-Inferiority Field Trial |
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| Authors: | Nuhu Amin Amy J Pickering Pavani K Ram Leanne Unicomb Nusrat Najnin Nusrat Homaira Sania Ashraf Jaynal Abedin M Sirajul Islam Stephen P Luby |
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| Institution: | International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh; Stanford University, Stanford, California; University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia |
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| Abstract: | We conducted a randomized, non-inferiority field trial in urban Dhaka, Bangladesh among mothers to compare microbial efficacy of soapy water (30 g powdered detergent in 1.5 L water) with bar soap and water alone. Fieldworkers collected hand rinse samples before and after the following washing regimens: scrubbing with soapy water for 15 and 30 seconds; scrubbing with bar soap for 15 and 30 seconds; and scrubbing with water alone for 15 seconds. Soapy water and bar soap removed thermotolerant coliforms similarly after washing for 15 seconds (mean log10 reduction = 0.7 colony-forming units CFU], P < 0.001 for soapy water; mean log10 reduction = 0.6 CFU, P = 0.001 for bar soap). Increasing scrubbing time to 30 seconds did not improve removal (P > 0.05). Scrubbing hands with water alone also reduced thermotolerant coliforms (mean log10 reduction = 0.3 CFU, P = 0.046) but was less efficacious than scrubbing hands with soapy water. Soapy water is an inexpensive and microbiologically effective cleansing agent to improve handwashing among households with vulnerable children. |
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