Antiseptic Soap: A Historical Perspective & CDC Recommendations

Dr. John M. Boyce and Dr. Didier Pittet explain in their article for the Center for Disease Control that the idea of using antiseptic soap for personal hand-hygiene and to prevent the spread of contagious diseases has been around since the 19th century.

Early Antiseptics

• During the 19th century, lime and chloride were added to liquid soaps to produce an antiseptic soap.

Evidence of Benefits

• The CDC reports that in 1847, after recommending that doctors wash their hands with a chlorine solution between autopsy and maternity patients, Ignaz Semmelweis noted a decline in the transmission of puerperal fever and a decline in patient death rates.

Hand Washing Training

• In the 1960s, the U.S. Health Department trained health care workers to wash their hands with regular soap and water and to only use antiseptics when a sink was unavailable.

First CDC Recommendations

• In 1975 and 1985, the CDC is reported to have recommended antimicrobial soap for regular hand washing and waterless antiseptics for use when water was unavailable.

Current Recommendations

• To promote hand hygiene and kill disease-carrying micro-organisms, the CDC currently recommends washing the hands for at least 15 seconds with antiseptic soap.