[Test methods for surgical hand disinfection (author's transl)].

As exemplified by a test preparation, methods for assessing the effect of hand disinfection on the resident flora are put up for discussion. The test of a method for hand disinfection must make allowance for conditions prevailing in practice. Accordingly, the following steps should be taken into consideration: A. Single use 1. Immediate disinfecting effect 2. Duration of the disinfecting effect B. Repeated use 3. Course of the initial colony count 4. Immediate disinfecting effect 5. Behaviour of colony count after interruption of the disinfecting method applied. For the purpose of comparing the total count, as with all other disinfecting methods, the colony count must be determined by fractional collection methods; to this end, Traub's procedure may be modified, possibly using the plastic bag method described by Gaschen. A careful statistical evaluation with appropriate transformation of the results is indispensable.