![]() ![]() Compounds that are used to achieve asepsis are termed antiseptics. This was the beginning of the modern concept of aseptic technique.Īsepsis is defined as the absence or removal of disease-causing (pathogenic) microorganisms. In the decades after Lister's method became popular, post-operative patient deaths dropped to less than 1%. By killing the bacteria before or immediately after they contacted the wound, infection was minimized. Later, this was shown to be due to the killing of bacteria that were present in the air of the operating room or on the clothing or gloves of the health care providers. When he applied a spray of disinfectant over a patient's wound during surgery, Lister showed that post-operative infections could be markedly reduced. British surgeon and scientist Joseph Lister (1827–1912) changed the role of surgery by demonstrating the value of infection control. Instead of being a life-saving measure, surgery was a desperate last resort when all other treatments had failed. Up until the mid-nineteenth century, the death rate following surgeries was over 50%. History and Scientific Foundationsīefore infection control and asepsis were recognized, surgery was often a death sentence for the patient. Infection control professionals (ICPs) are usually nurses, physicians, medical technologists, or epidemiologists, and their main focus is to investigate and gather data about existing infections in order to take the appropriate actions to contain them and prevent future infections. ![]() Most hospitals have dedicated infection control practitioners on staff, whose job it is to oversee the infection control procedures as specified by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). Almost two million people in the United States acquire a nosocomial (hospital or health-care-related) infection each year, adding more than five billion dollars to health care costs annually. Steps that are taken to reduce or prevent infection in health care settings are known as infection control. ![]()
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