Review Question - QID 216725

The intervention of using an alcohol-based decontamination procedure would not be adequate in the treatment of spore-forming bacterial organisms such as Clostridium difficile.

Alcohol solutions and alcohol-based sanitizers are increasingly popular decontamination methods used in health care facilities. These methods rely upon the alcohol to dehydrate and disrupt cellular membranes as the substance dries. The benefit of this method is that decontaminated surfaces can be regarded as clean as soon as the alcohol dries without requiring further scrubbing or washing. Despite the convenience of alcohol-based solutions, it does not effectively kill spore-forming bacterial organisms such as the Clostridial species. Patients infected with these organisms instead need to be placed on enhanced contact precautions that require soap and water hand washing after contact.

Jabbar et al. studied the ability of alcohol-based hand sanitizers to kill Clostridium difficile spores. They found that this method was 10x less effective than soap and water at preventing transmission of spores through a handshake.

Incorrect Answers:
Answer 1: Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus that can be resistant to heat-based inactivation; however, it would be effectively killed by alcohol-based sanitizers.

Answer 3: Escherichia coli is a gram-negative rod that can produce toxins that are resistant to alcohol-based cleaning solutions; however, the bacteria themselves are extremely vulnerable to alcohol-based removal.

Answer 4: Influenza virus is extremely transmissible through droplets in confined settings; however, the virus can be easily decontaminated from surfaces with alcohol.

Answer 5: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive coccus that is resistant to many different antibiotics but is equally susceptible to alcohol-based sanitizers as other bacteria.

Bullet Summary:
Spore-forming bacteria such as the Clostridial species are not adequately removed by alcohol-based sanitizers.