Compering the Effect of Thymus Vulgaris Spray and that of Decosept on Microbial Load of Nurses’ Hands

Hands are the most important way of transmitting infection. So, disinfecting hands with an appropriate substance is the most important prevention method. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the effect of thyme spray and that of Decosept on the microbial load of nurses’ hands. 70 nurses working in different wards of Valiasr Hospital in the city of Arak, Iran, were selected according to inclusion criteria to participate in this clinical trial. After acquiring written consents, an initial culture was obtained from each participant on Blood Agar media. The participants were assigned to two groups. The first group disinfected their hands with thyme spray at 10% concentration and the second group disinfected their hands with Decosept. After drying the hands, a second culture sample was taken from each participant. Then, differential culture technique was performed and the results were analyzed by SPSS 16 and through t-test, Mann–Whitney, Fisher and Chi-squared tests. The results showed that both substances used in the intervention caused a reduction in microbial load of the participants’ hands (p=0.0001), but this reduction was significantly higher after using Decosept compared to thymus (p= 0.0000). The results of this study showed that the antimicrobial effect of Decosept is higher than that of thymus. However, due to increasing attempts to use plant-based antibacterial agents, considering the findings of this study to this aim is recommended.