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Clinical Microbiology Reviews, January 1999, p. 147-179, Vol. 12, No. 1
0893-8512/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Antiseptics and Disinfectants: Activity, Action, and Resistance

Gerald McDonnell1,* and A. Denver Russell2

STERIS Corporation, St. Louis Operations, St. Louis, Missouri 63166,1 and Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF1 3XF, United Kingdom2

Antiseptics and disinfectants are extensively used in hospitals and other health care settings for a variety of topical and hard-surface applications. A wide variety of active chemical agents (biocides) are found in these products, many of which have been used for hundreds of years, including alcohols, phenols, iodine, and chlorine. Most of these active agents demonstrate broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity; however, little is known about the mode of action of these agents in comparison to antibiotics. This review considers what is known about the mode of action and spectrum of activity of antiseptics and disinfectants. The widespread use of these products has prompted some speculation on the development of microbial resistance, in particular whether antibiotic resistance is induced by antiseptics or disinfectants. Known mechanisms of microbial resistance (both intrinsic and acquired) to biocides are reviewed, with emphasis on the clinical implications of these reports.

* Corresponding author. Present address: STERIS Corporation, 5960 Heisley Rd., Mentor, OH 44060. Phone: (440) 354-2600. Fax: (440) 354-7038. E-mail: gerry_mcdonnell{at}steris.com.

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, January 1999, p. 147-179, Vol. 12, No. 1
0893-8512/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 1999 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.