In vitro assessment and comparison of quality of alcohol-based hand rubs, pre- and peri-COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Kenya [version 3; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

Background In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the World Health Organization recommended the use of alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) to curb transmission, leading to increased production and use. This has posed a danger of production and use of poor-quality ABHRs. Methods This study assessed and compared the quality of ABHRs in the Kenyan market that were produced before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Quality testing was carried out against European EN 1500:2013 and Kenyan EAS 789:2013 Standards and 20 samples analyzed for alcohol content by GC-FID. Results The study found that 27.8% of the peri-COVID-19 pandemic sanitizers had less than 90% bactericidal reduction activity as compared to 12.5% manufactured pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Only 25% peri-COVID-19 pandemic ABHRs met the EAS 789:2013 acceptable limit of over 60% alcohol content. Product adulteration with methanol was found in 20 % of the samples with only 5% complying with FDA approval limit of <0.063% v/v methanol. Study found no correlation between the total alcohol content and the efficacy of ABHRs. Conclusions The study found that more substandard products were produced during the pandemic. This raises a concern about possible emergence of alcohol resistant strains of microorganisms. The study therefore recommends an adequate quality monitoring system to curb against substandard products.