ReviewThe Journal of hospital infection2018
Efficacy of ethanol against viruses in hand disinfection.
Review in The Journal of hospital infection, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 101 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
101 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 262 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of common respiratory viruses of infants with respiratory tract infections in European countries in the past decade: a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing between the pre-COVID-19, pandemic, and post-COVID-19 periods.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Chlorhexidine solutions are more effective than povidone-iodine solutions as skin disinfectants for the prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections: A meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Sensitivity Evaluation of Enveloped and Non-enveloped Viruses to Ethanol Using Machine Learning: A Systematic Review.Food and environmental virology · 2024Pooled it
- Three months of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Reviews in medical virology · 2020Pooled it
- Hand Sanitizers: A Review on Formulation Aspects, Adverse Effects, and Regulations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- ISIDOG Recommendations Concerning COVID-19 and Pregnancy.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Guideline
- Hand hygiene knowledge, glove use misconceptions, and determinants among healthcare workers in Addis Ababa hospitals: a mixed-method cross-sectional study.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2026Article
- Marked variations in the effectiveness of commercial disinfectants against clinically relevant antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi.Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju · 2026Article
- Quality and efficacy of alcohol-based hand rubs used in healthcare facilities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Thermal Inactivation and Chemical Disinfection Efficacy Against Lassa Virus.Viruses · 2026Article
- Pathogens on High-Touch Surfaces in an Arid Megacity: A Longitudinal Molecular Surveillance Study.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Article
- Validation of digital PCR as a complementary tool to MS2 plaque assay for virucidal activity assessment.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Evaluation and Comparison of the UV-LED Action Spectra for Photochemical Disinfection of Coliphages and Human Pathogenic Viruses.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Viral Inactivation by Light-Emitting Diodes: Action Spectra Reveal Genomic Damage as the Primary Mechanism.Viruses · 2025Article
- Comparative evaluation of the virucidal activities of ozonated water, povidone-iodine, and ethanol against human adenovirus.Journal of water and health · 2025Article
- Ethanol Inhalation for Respiratory Infections due to Enveloped Viruses.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2025Review
- School-informed risk calculator tool for reducing the spread of respiratory viral infection among school-aged children.Indoor environments · 2025Article
- Product formulation and rubbing time impact the inactivation of enveloped and non-enveloped virus surrogates by foam-based hand sanitizers.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- In Vitro Efficacy of Foam Hand Sanitizers Against Enveloped and Non-Enveloped Viruses.Food and environmental virology · 2025Article
41 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ethanol is used worldwide in healthcare facilities for hand rubbing. It has been reported to have a stronger and broader virucidal activity compared with propanols. The aim of this review was to describe the spectrum of virucidal activity of ethanol in solution or as commercially available products. A systematic search was conducted. Studies were selected when they contained original data on reduction of viral infectivity from suspension tests (49 studies) and contaminated hands (17 studies). Ethanol at 80% was highly effective against all 21 tested, enveloped viruses within 30 s. Murine norovirus and adenovirus type 5 are usually inactivated by ethanol between 70% and 90% in 30 s whereas poliovirus type 1 was often found to be too resistant except for ethanol at 95% (all test viruses of EN 14476). Ethanol at 80% is unlikely to be sufficiently effective against poliovirus, calicivirus (FCV), polyomavirus, hepatitis A virus (HAV) and foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). The spectrum of virucidal activity of ethanol at 95%, however, covers the majority of clinically relevant viruses. Additional acids can substantially improve the virucidal activity of ethanol at lower concentrations against, e.g. poliovirus, FCV, polyomavirus and FMDV although selected viruses such as HAV may still be too resistant. The selection of a suitable virucidal hand rub should be based on the viruses most prevalent in a unit and on the user acceptability of the product under frequent-use conditions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.