Pathogens: Microorganisms that nearly always produce disease.
These organisms cause "trouble" when introduced intonormally sterile areas (like the bladder or bloodstream).
Resident or Normal Flora: Those microorganisms that are constantly present onour bodies no amount of scrubbing will totally remove them (the skin cannot bemade sterile).
Antisepsis(or handwashing and pre-op skin preparation) is the removal of transientmicroorganisms from the skin with a reduction in the resident flora. Transient: Transient microorganisms are easily picked up on hands, clothing,inanimate objects, etc., and are easily removed by handwashing and cleaning(physical removal of "germs"), antisepsis and disinfection.
In this article, we willdiscuss the three major components of Asepsis - handwashing,disinfection and sterilization - Body Hygiene - personal hygiene anddress code - and a Caring Attitude - a good sense of right and wrongessential to the practice of the ABCs of infection control. Practicing aseptic technique, good body hygiene and developing a caringattitude comprise the ABCs of infection control.