Medical hygiene

Medical hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices related to the administration of medicine, and medical care, that prevents or minimizes disease and the spreading of disease.
Medical hygiene practices include:
• Isolation or quarantine of infectious persons or materials to prevent spread of infection.
• Sterilization of instruments used in surgical procedures.
• Use of protective clothing and barriers, such as masks, gowns, caps, eyewear and gloves.
• Proper bandaging and dressing of injuries.
• Safe disposal of medical waste.
• Disinfection of reusables (i.e. linen, pads, uniforms)
• Scrubbing up, hand-washing, especially in an operating room, but in more general health-care settings as well, where diseases can be transmitted
Most of these practices were developed in the 19th century and were well established by the mid-20th century. Some procedures (such as disposal of medical waste) were tightened up as a result of late-20th century disease outbreaks, notably AIDS and Ebola.
Hand hygiene
Defined as hand washing or washing hands with soap and water or using a waterless hand sanitizer.
Hand hygiene is central to preventing spread of infectious diseases in home and everyday life settings. The most critical situations where hand hygiene is needed are:
• After using the toilet (or disposing of human or animal faeces)
• After changing a baby’s diaper (nappy) and disposing of the faeces
• Immediately after handling raw food (e.g. chicken, meat)
• Before preparing and handling cooked/ready-to-eat food
• Before eating food or feeding children.
Hand hygiene is also important:
• After contact with contaminated surfaces (e.g. rubbish bins, cleaning cloths, food-contaminated surfaces)
• After handling pets and domestic animals
• After wiping or blowing the nose or sneezing into the hands
• After handling soiled tissues (self or others, e.g. children)
• After contact with blood or body fluids (e.g. vomit)
• Before and after dressing wounds
• Before giving care to an “at risk” person
• After giving care to an infected person.
The accepted procedure for hand washing with soap is as follows:
1. Always wash hands under running water
2. Apply soap
3. Rub hands together for 15–30 seconds, paying particular attention to fingertips, thumbs and between the fingers
4. Rinse well and dry thoroughly.
In situations where hand washing with soap is not an option (e.g. when in a public place with no access to wash facilities), a waterless hand sanitizer such as an alcohol hand gel can be used. They can also be used in addition to hand washing, to minimise risks when caring for “at risk” groups. To be effective, alcohol hand gels should contain not less than 60%v/v alcohol. Hand sanitizers are non-options in most developing country settings; in situations where availability of water is a problem, there are appropriate solutions such as tippy-taps, which use much less water and are very low-cost to make, with local materials. In low income communities mud or ash is sometimes used as an alternative to soap.