Isopropyl alcohol is as efficient as chlorhexidine to prevent contamination of blood cultures

Publication date: Available online 12 January 2017
Source:American Journal of Infection Control
Author(s): Jovanna Martínez, Juan H. Macías, Virginia Arreguín, Jose A. Álvarez, Alejandro E. Macías, Juan L. Mosqueda-Gómez
BackgroundFalse-positive blood cultures can lead to unnecessary risks and misuse of antibiotics; to reduce rates of false-positives, it would be useful to determine whether use of an antiseptic with a prolonged effect is required.MethodsClinical study of efficacy (blinded and randomized) to compare the rate of blood culture contamination when skin antisepsis was performed with 70% isopropyl alcohol or 2% chlorhexidine gluconate in 70% isopropyl alcohol in 2 hospitals. Patients aged 16 years or older with suspected bloodstream infection who were allocated in the emergency room, internal medicine ward, or intensive care unit were included.ResultsFive of 563 (0.9%) blood cultures from the isopropyl arm and 10 of 539 (1.9%) from the chlorhexidine arm were contaminated. No significant differences were observed among the rate of contamination (χ² = 1.27; P = .3) or the relative risk of contamination (relative risk = 2.09; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-6.07; P = .2).ConclusionsThe rates of blood contamination were not different when isopropyl alcohol and chlorhexidine were compared. Isopropyl alcohol could be used for skin antisepsis before blood collection.



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