Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> Hand hygiene (HG) is fundamental for reducing the transmission of infectious diseases. Alcohol-based hand gels are widely used in healthcare and community settings; however, the antibacterial activity of commercially available products may vary according to their formulation. This study evaluates the in vitro antibacterial efficacy of commercially available hand gels in Lebanese market (HG1-HG7), against clinically and community relevant bacterial strains: <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> , <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> , <italic>Klebsiella pneumoniae</italic> , <italic>Salmonella</italic> , and <italic>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</italic> . An experimental <italic>in vitro</italic> design was conducted using the agar well diffusion to assess antibacterial activity. Considerable variability in antibacterial activity was observed among the tested products. HG1 demonstrated the broadest inhibitory activity against <italic>S. aureus</italic> , <italic>Salmonella</italic> , <italic>E. coli</italic> , and <italic>K. pneumoniae</italic> . Limited activity was observed with HG2 and HG7, while HG3–HG6 showed detectable activity under the experimental conditions. <italic>P. aeruginosa</italic> exhibited limited susceptibility to all tested hand gels. The findings indicate substantial variability in the in vitro antibacterial performance of commercial hand gels available on the Lebanese market. Additional studies using standardized sanitizer efficacy protocols and larger sample sizes are required to confirm these observations and evaluate their clinical relevance. </p>