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Disinfection of Instruments and Equipment

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Prevention and Control of Infections in Hospitals

Abstract

Disinfection is “destruction or removal of all organisms capable of causing infection” and “in practice leads to the removal of all microbes except spores—that is, an approximate sterilization process.” In the healthcare system, instruments and equipment are disinfected with heat, chemical fluids, chemical vapours or gases. Prions are contagious protein sequences that are treated in a special way. Instruments from prion-sick cases are never reused on other patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hospital Infections, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

    Bjørg Marit Andersen

  2. Faculty of Health and Social Science, University of South-Eastern Norway, Oslo, Norway

    Bjørg Marit Andersen

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  1. Bjørg Marit Andersen
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Andersen, B.M. (2019). Disinfection of Instruments and Equipment. In: Prevention and Control of Infections in Hospitals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99921-0_59

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99921-0_59

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