The efficacy of cetylpyridinium chloride glove coatings against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus

A study was undertaken to determine whether cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) glove coatings are effective against the common skin-inhabiting bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus. The time course of their activity in the presence and absence of glove material was assessed. The in vitro MIC of CPC against each of the test organisms was determined as 0.3 μg ml−1. A spectrophotometric assay was used to measure the CPC concentration in each of 20 unused surgical gloves, which was found to be highly variable, but always well in excess of the MIC against the test organisms. The time course of CPC activity was determined in vitro in the presence and absence of glove material, and it was found that the activity of CPC was significantly reduced when glove material was present. The time course of CPC activity was also determined using glove cultures, at initial inoculum levels of 104 or 105 cfu ml−1, and it was found that at the lower inoculum level, Staphylococcus epidermidis was rendered non-viable in 50% of gloves tested within 15 min, and Staphylococcus aureus within 2 h. Reductions in cell counts were less dramatic at the higher inoculum level, S. epidermidis was rendered non-viable in 50% of gloves tested within 2 h, but S. aureus was rendered non-viable in only 10% of gloves tested in the same time, although the viable counts of most of the other treatments were significantly reduced.