How does alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) work?
Alcohol (whether ethanol, isopropanol or a combination of the two) is the key ingredient in alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) when it comes to killing the transient microorganisms that we pick up on our hands. Alcohols provide for rapid kill of most transient microorganisms due to their ability to denature proteins. The efficacy of ABHR depends on the quality of the product, the amount of product used, the time spent rubbing and the hand surfaces rubbed. For maximum efficacy, health care providers should perform hand hygiene at the appropriate moment of care which is why ABHR should be available as close to the point-of-care as possible.
