Efficacy of Different Herbal and Chemical-Based Hand Sanitizers to Control the Microbial Growth on the Hands of Bank Cashiers
Herbal and Chemical-Based Hand Sanitizers: Microbial Growth on the Hands of Bank Cashiers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54393/pbmj.v8i11.1302Keywords:
Hand Washing, Herbal Sanitizers, Bank Cashiers, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coliAbstract
Hand hygiene plays a vital role in reducing the transmission of infectious diseases, principally in occupations involving the regular handling of contaminated objects, such as currency notes. Objectives: To estimate the effectiveness of three classes of hand sanitizers, including commercial non-alcoholic, alcoholic, and lab-prepared herbal formulations, for reducing microbial growth from the hands of bank cashiers in Lahore. Methods: This experimental study evaluated 32 cashiers aged 25–40 years for sanitizer efficacy. Samples were gathered from both hands before sanitizer application, after 25 seconds, mid-sampling 1 minute, and post-sampling after 1 hour. Results: The findings verified clear modifications among sanitizer types. Alcoholic sanitizers, mainly containing ethanol or isopropyl alcohol, were the most effective, attaining up to an 87% decrease in CFU count. In some alcoholic sanitizers, inhibition was 99.9%. Lab-prepared herbal sanitizers, including constituents such as aloe vera, neem, alum, and basil, reduced bacterial growth by up to 61%. The non-alcoholic sanitizers have also shown activity against bacterial growth and reduced CFU by up to 48%. The bacteria isolated by biochemical isolation were Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. A two-way ANOVA with a post-hoc Tukey's test revealed significant decreases in CFU (colony-forming units) at p<0.0001 among all categories and proved alcoholic sanitizers to be the strongest antimicrobial agents. Conclusions: This result shows that alcoholic hand sanitizers are highly effective against hand-borne microbes in a real-life bank environment, suggesting their use as an integral component of hand hygiene interventions for cashiers.
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