Antiseptic compounds still active against bacterial strains isolated from surgical wound infections despite increasing antibiotic resistance

The in vitro activities of povidone iodine, potassium peroxymonosul fate, and dimethyldidecylammonium chloride were investigated against 379 nosocomial isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa responsible for surgical wound infections in patients operated on between July 1995 and June 2001. Overall, the isolates were inhibited by the antiseptics at concentrations below those used routinely. In spite of increasing resistance to the various antibiotics used to treat surgical wound infections, no significant variation in the susceptibility to antiseptics was demonstrated during this 6-year study. showing dramatic increases in resistance to the most commonly used antibiotics [4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. The present study was performed to address the question of whether the emergence of antibiotic resistance may affect susceptibility to antiseptic products. In accordance with this aim, we evaluated the activity of three antiseptic compounds frequently administered in our hospitals, povidone iodine (PVI), potassium peroxymonosulfate (K-POS), and dimethyldidecylammonium chloride (DDAC), against 379 nosocomial isolates responsible for surgical wound infections between July 1995 and June 2001.