Abstract:
In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the
World Health Organization recommended the use of alcohol-based
hand rubs (ABHRs) to curb transmission, leading to increased
production and use. This has posed a danger of production and use of
poor-quality ABHRs.
Methods
This study assessed and compared the quality of ABHRs in the Kenyan
market that were produced before and after the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Quality testing was carried out
against European EN 1500:2013 and Kenyan EAS 789:2013 Standards
and 20 samples analyzed for alcohol content by GC-FID.
Results
The study found that 27.8% of the peri-COVID-19 pandemic sanitizers
had less than 90% bactericidal reduction activity as compared to
12.5% manufactured pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Only 25% peri-COVID
19 pandemic ABHRs met the EAS 789:2013 acceptable limit of over
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01 Dec 2023
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Fred Tusabe , Infectious diseases
Institute, Kampala, Uganda
Sandry Kesuma , Health Polytechnic
Ministry of Health Malang, Malang, Indonesia
Kennedy Abuga , University of Nairobi,
Nairobi, Kenya
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F1000Research 2024, 12:1546 Last updated: 13 NOV 2024
60% alcohol content. Product adulteration with methanol was found in
20 % of the samples with only 5% complying with FDA approval limit of
<0.063% v/v methanol. Study found no correlation between the total
alcohol content and the efficacy of ABHRs.
Conclusions
The study found that more substandard products were produced
during the pandemic. This raises a concern about possible emergence
of alcohol resistant strains of microorganisms. The study therefore
recommends an adequate quality monitoring system to curb against
substandard products
