Barenfanger J, Drake C, Lawhorn J, Verhulst SJ. Comparison of Chlorhexidine and Tincture of Iodine for Skin Antisepsis in Preparation for Blood Sample Collection. Journal of clinical microbiology. 2004;42(5):2216-2217.
Rates of contamination of blood cultures obtained when skin was prepared with iodine tincture versus chlorhexidine were compared. For iodine tincture, the contamination rate was 2.7%; for chlorhexidine, it was 3.1%. The 0.41% difference is not statistically significant. Chlorhexidine has comparable effectiveness and is safer, cheaper, and preferred by staff, so it is an alternative to iodine tincture.