Disinfection

Click here for : What You Need to Know about Disinfection 

Trident Alcohol Disinfectant Wipes

Trident Pharm currently manufactures and supplies local hospitals their alcohol wipes for surface disinfection, on tender. Alcohol wipes have the following advantages :

• Economical
• Fast drying (if contact time of 15 seconds or less is required)
• Broad acting antimicrobial effect.
• Easy to use

However, alcohol (IPA 70%) wipes alone are NOT suitable for the following areas :

• Surfaces where adhesives or rubber are present
• Medical instruments
• To stop noravirus or spores
• For skin disinfection or catheter care 
• Disinfection protocols that require contact time exceeding 15 seconds (or else multiple wipes need to be used)

Trident's alcohol disinfectant wipes come in singly packed foil sachets and packed in 100's. The 20 x 20 cm non-woven cloth is impregnated with 70% IPA. Expiry is 3 years from manufacture if stored below 25o C.

The wipes have been tested locally and conform to EN guidelines on disinfection.

Traditionally, alcohol wipes have long been conisdered the most cost effective way to deal with general disinfection. However, many users have fallen victim of practices that are not compliant to the labelled claims and do not realise it. Their failures include :

1. Non-adherence to labelled claims of 1 minute contact time. Users tend to wipe surfaces and wait out the minute without realising that this is improper. Contact time requires the alcohol to be in contact with the microorganism for the full minute and that means users must reapply a fresh wipe onto the surface each time the surface dries before the minute is up. Inadequate contact time can lead to infection spread and resistance. 
2. Improper wiping of all surfaces. Alcohol wipes are not chemically suitable for use on rubbers, formica tops etc with adhesives as they will be effected by the alcohol. Damage to these surfaces can be costly and overlooked as a cost associated with alcohol wipe use.
3. Improper wiping of medical instruments. Medical instruments like stethoscopes can be damaged by frequent cleaning with alcohol wipes. Alcohol will dissolve adhesive and is commonly the cause of stethoscope damage and smudging of plastics.
4. Alcohol does not kill spores like Clostridium Difficile or the Noravirus.
5. Alcohol wipes are not suitable as hand wipes.