Sheila M. Martin-Corbin
Hygiene practices are employed as preventative measures to reduce the incidence and spreading of disease. In general, hygiene mostly means practices that prevent spread of disease-causing organisms. Since cleaning processes, say, hand washing, remove infectious microbes as well as dirt and soil, they are often the means to achieve home, medical and everyday life hygiene
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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. Home hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices that prevent or minimize disease and the spreading of disease in the home and in everyday life settings such as social settings, public transport, the work place, public places to name a few. Hygiene in home and everyday life settings plays an important part in preventing spread of infectious diseases. It includes procedures used in a variety of domestic situations such as hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, food and water hygiene, general home hygiene, hygiene of environmental sites and surfaces, care of domestic animals, and home healthcare.
At present, these components of hygiene tend to be regarded as separate issues, although all are based on the same underlying microbiological principles. Preventing the spread of infectious diseases means breaking the chain of infection transmission. The simple principle is that, if the chain of infection is broken, infection cannot be easily spread. Thus, when circumstances combine, people become exposed, either directly or via food or water, and can develop an infection. Good home hygiene means targeting hygiene procedures at critical points, at appropriate times, to break the chain of infection, thus, eliminating germs before they can spread further.