Application of Octenidine into Nasal Vestibules Does Not Influence SARS-CoV-2 Detection via PCR or Antigen Test Methods

• Main Authors: Ojan Assadian (Author), Fabiola Sigmund (Author), Daniela Herzog (Author), Karin Riedl (Author), Christoph Klaus (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2023-12-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/antibiotics12121724; 2079-6382
• Keywords: octenidine; patient decolonization; SARS-CoV-2 detection; nasal decolonization; surgical site infection; Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM1-950
• Source: Antibiotics, Vol 12, Iss 12, p 1724 (2023)

The targeted or universal decolonization of patients through octenidine for nasal treatment and antiseptic body wash for 3 to 5 days prior elective surgery has been implemented in several surgical disciplines in order to significantly reduce surgical site infections (SSIs) caused by <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> carriage. However, as most healthcare facilities also screen patients on admission for pilot infection, it is imperative that a prophylactic nasal decolonization procedure not yield a false negative SARS-CoV-2 status in otherwise positive patients. We assessed the effect of a commercially available octenidine-containing nasal gel on two different screening methods-antigen (Ag) detection based on colloidal gold immunochromatography and RT-PCR-in a prospective-type accuracy pilot study in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive inpatients. All patients still showed a positive test result after using the octenidine-containing nasal gel for about 3 days; therefore, its application did not influence SARS-CoV-2 screening, which is of high clinical relevance. Of note is that Ag detection was less sensitive, regardless of the presence of octenidine. From an infection prevention perspective, these results favor octenidine-based decolonization strategies, even during seasonal SARS-CoV-2 periods. As only asymptomatic patients are considered for elective interventions, screening programs based on RT-PCR technology should be preferred.