Still Not Sterile: Chlorhexidine gluconate treatment does not completely reduce skin microbial bioburden and promotes pathogen overabundance in patients undergoing elective surgeries.
Elizabeth C. Townsend, Kayla Xu, Karinda De La Cruz, Lynda Huang, Shelby Sandstrom, Delanie Arend, Owen Gromek, J. E. Scarborough, A. C. Huttenlocher, Angela L. F. Gibson, Lindsay Kalan
This study shows that chlorhexidine gluconate reduces viable skin microbial bioburden but does not achieve complete sterility, and temporarily increases pathogen abundance before microbiome recovery.
Microbiology Spectrum · Apr 10, 2025Peer-reviewedMicrobiology