Principles of sterilization – From A to Z

Introduction

What’s the Objective?

• Removal of objectionables / specified microorganisms
• Control of microbial population
-Reduction in count
-Complete elimination
• It’s important to understand the real process need more completely than what this might otherwise suggest.

What’s the Target to be Sterilized?

What Process to Choose – 1

• There’s a fly in your living room, what do you use to kill it?
• A fly swatter
• A shotgun
• A piece of artillery
• Obviously we would use the fly swatter and that advice is appropriate in microbial control as well.
• We should use the process that best fits the target objective.
• Unfortunately, most practitioners in microbial control take the process to extremes as a matter of routine. That’s acceptable at times, but not always.

Microbial Control Processes

• Disinfection – a process that will eliminate infective organisms.
• Sanitization – a process will reduce the overall microbial population.
Depending upon the agent

What’s Wrong?

• Despite the maturity of the subject, the practice of sterilization within the global healthcare industry has descended into rote repetition of wrong headed expectations.
• Regulatory obfuscation and industry apathy have caused all manner of unnecessary complications and added patient risks.
• Rather than making products safer, we may have actually increased patient risk!

Why did it go Wrong?

• We’ve paid only limited attention to the basic science underlying sterilization.
• We’ve ignored the effect the various processes have on the materials.
• We have relied on overly simplistic models and ignored the core scientific principles upon which sterilization process must be
constructed.
• If we haven’t made it sterilization any safer or easier, we’ve sure made it dumber.

What are the Problems?