Chlorhexidine alcohol versus povidone-iodine: The comparative study of skin disinfectants at the blood transfusion centers of Iran

Objectives. - The skin disinfection in the blood donor's arm is a key step to minimize the risk of microbial contamination at blood donation sessions. Current study aimed to compare the efficacy of 2% chlorhexidine gluconate in 70% isopropyl alcohol (CHG/IPA) with povidone-Iodine (PI) at blood transfusion centers (BTCs) of Iran. Material and methods. - Blood donors were selected to evaluate three commercial CHG/IPA disinfectants (N= 300), prior the application at BTCs, and to compare the rate of positive skin cultures between CHG/IPA and PI in 31 BTCs (N= 8578). The rate of positivity for PI over a 5-year period was also investigated. After application of a two-step disinfection procedure, the biochemical characteristics were checked in accordance with the conventional bacteriological methods. The Z-test analysis was used to compare the deviation between the positive microbial culture ratios. Result. - No donors had a positive culture after disinfection during the evaluation study. There was no difference in the rate of positivity between PI and CHG/IPA after disinfection (P > 0.05). The rate of positivity for PI from 2012 to 2017 showed a decreasing trend. The rate of positivity was significantly higher in winter rather than summer (P < 0.05). Conclusion. - The disinfection efficacy of CHG/IPA was equivalent to that of PI. The 5-year monitoring of PI at BTCs showed that the improvement in the rate of positive skin cultures possibly due to effectiveness of correcting actions. (C) 2020 Societe francaise de transfusion sanguine (SFTS). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.