Infection Control: A Preventive Measureinfection control only focuses on the health care setting. It plays a vital role in the safeguarding of public health. By Ian [website] from Raleigh, NC on January 31, 2006 Category: Infection Control INFECTION CONTROL Infection Control: A Preventive Measure In connection with public health prevention is infection control. Unlike other preventive measures in relevance with the sphere of the scope, infection control only focuses on the health care setting only. Infection Control is defined as the discipline concerned with preventing the spread of infections within the health-care setting. It is just a subtopic of epidemology. Epidemology is the scientific study of factors affecting the health and illness of individuals and populations and serves as the foundation in the context of the public’s health and preventive medicine. Infection control deals with two major factors which are prevention, and investigation and management. Under the umbrella of prevention is hand hygiene, which by the way is one of the most effective ways to control infections since the hand is the most suitable carrier for bacteria. The main purpose of washing hands is to cleanse the hands of pathogens which may include bacteria or viruses and chemicals which can cause disease. This is a must especially for those people who are working in connection with food handling and those who work in the medical field. The purpose of hand washing in the health care setting is to remove or destroy (disinfect) germs to avoid transmission to patients. Ordinary soap and water are fair agents for hand washing for they can remove adherent germs from the skin. Other soaps which are medicated or hand disinfectants are used when higher levels of disinfection are required, e.g. surgery. Another type of preventive measure is vaccination. Since this is a measure for prevention of infection in the premise of the health care institution, the vaccination is intended for the health care workers. This will help in keeping the workers and the people in the health care vicinity free from unwanted infections and ailments. Surveillance is also an important aspect in infection control. This is when the people involved monitor the spread of germs and try to prevent it from proliferating through investigation and management. |
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