I heard from a very reputable person (a doctor) that swabbing the skin with alcohol before giving a shot is really not effective against killing bacteria that might enter the broken skin to cause an infection. He said that it was more of a tradition than anything and that the important part anyway was a sterile needle, since that’s what enters the body. Is there an online medical journal I could possibly research this is? Or any other possible helpful, reliable source I could pose this question to?
Alcohol does kill microorganisms. Basically, it sucks the water out of the cells through osmotic pressure. An injection can sure carry such organisms beneath the skin, so killing them is only sensible. I can’t speak to the rate of risk from not doing so, however. It’s my feeling that any doctor who didn’t swab the area to be injected is just opening himself up to possible lawsuits should an infection devolop at the injection site.
In addition to what QED said, plain 'ol Alcohol is one of the two most common active antibacterial agents used in everyday “hand sanitizer” products, the other being Triclosan.
Hey grettle and Q.E.D.,
What the doc may have been referring to is that ethanol does not immediately kill microorganisms on contact. Prolonged exposure to ethanol (e.g. 5 minutes) is required for disinfection. The perfunctory alcohol swab given by many docs may, indeed, be nearly pointless.
-Apoptosis
Oh, he did swab it, but I asked him something and he told me what I asked about.
Great link Apoptosis, thanks so much. This may have been the study he was refering to.
Exactly. They SHOULD be swabbing the skin, then letting it sit for several minutes before poking you. My favorite, which happened to me recently, is when the nurse swabs you, then pokes the swabbed area with her bare finger, thus reintroducing bacteria into the sterile area, THEN stabs you. Gotta love that.
Of course, even with the perfuntory swab, I don’t think the infection rate of needle sticks is very high at all, so I don’t worry about it.
Alcohol is an astringent, not an antibiotic - it is used to clean the surface.