Beneficial or Not? The Efficacy of Ultra Violet Sterilization Chambers in Barber Shops within Juja

Abstract

Over the past few years, hairdressing, especially among men, has gained popularity and this has been attributed to the increase in disposable personal income and peer pressure among mainly the youth to conform to the latest hair fashions, generally initiated by sporting and film celebrities. Shaving is part and parcel of a man’s lifestyle and is accepted as a component of masculine grooming. This has given rise to the trade of barbering, which can be traced back even to Old Testament times (Ezekiel 5:1). It is quite usual to find a number of barber shops in major towns and cities in our world today. This has been due to the increasing demand of barbering services among men, as well as the income generated from such services. Even with the increasing popularity of barbers today, there has also been increasing cases of infection transmission through barber shops reported in several countries. This can be attributed to the very nature of shaving, which involves skin contact and use of sharp blades, making it a potential mode of infection transmission. In response to this, various techniques for cleaning and sterilization of shaving equipment have been employed, in an effort to reduce the rates of infection transmission during the process of shaving in barbershops. However, in as much as sterilization techniques are being used in barbershops, transmission of bacterial, viral and fungal infection still occurs, raising the question of whether these sterilization techniques are actually effective in accomplishing their purpose. This study, therefore, sought to determine the efficacy of one of the most employed sterilization techniques, that is, UV sterilization, by sampling six barbershops within Juja town. The study involved a cross-sectional design whereby barbershops with the UV sterilization chambers were sampled. Sampling involving wet-swabbing the tips of the electric shavers before and after UV sterilization for each barbershop. The samples were then taken to the laboratory to be analyzed to meet the objectives of the study.