Antibacterial and antifungal activities of hydroalcoholic hands products sold in Côte d’Ivoire during covid-19

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, hydroalcoholic products are widely used for hand disinfection. Côte d'Ivoire has also opted for this barrier measure. Ivorian markets and supermarkets have been filled with new hydroalcoholic products of various compositions and colors, certified or not by the Ivorian standardization agency. It was important to verify the antimicrobial efficacy of these hydroalcoholic products. To do this, we tested 16 hydroalcoholic products collected from supermarkets in Abidjan. The microbial load on the hands of 144 volunteers was determined before and after hand rubbing. These hydroalcoholic products were also tested for antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia and Proteus mirabilis; and antifungal activity against Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium chrysogenum. The results of this study showed that hydroalcoholic products tested significantly reduced the microbial load on the hands after friction. The germ inhibition rate was between 94.99 and 99.97%. Of the 16 hydroalcoholic products, only 3 showed antibacterial and antifungal activity on all indicator strains. In contrast, 4 showed no antibacterial and antifungal activity on these strains. The low efficacy of hydroalcoholic products tested in vitro is an indicator of the lack of quality control of these products. Some of them could not therefore guarantee the health security of the populations.