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Nosocomial infections claim approximately 90,000 lives in the United States annually. When patients are hospitalized and identified as having methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or infections that can be spread to other patients, best practices isolate these patients in rooms that are subjected to terminal cleaning when the patient is discharged.
Microorganisms growing on an agar plate. Sterilization (British English: sterilisation) refers to any process that removes, kills, or deactivates all forms of life (particularly microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, spores, and unicellular eukaryotic organisms) and other biological agents (such as prions or viruses) present in fluid or on a specific surface or object. [1]
For example, medical device manufacturers design their sterilization processes for an extremely low SAL, such as 10 −6, which is a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of a non-sterile unit. SAL also describes the killing efficacy of a sterilization process. A very effective sterilization process has a very low SAL.
Sterile dental instruments from hospital central supply (barcoded label indicating sterilization date, expiry date and contents). The central sterile services department (CSSD), also called sterile processing department (SPD), sterile processing, central supply department (CSD), or central supply, is an integrated place in hospitals and other health care facilities that performs sterilization ...
Equipment used in aseptic processing of food and beverages must be sterilized before processing and remain sterile during processing. [1] When designing aseptic processing equipment there are six basic requirements to consider: the equipment must have the capability of being cleaned thoroughly, it must be able to be sterilized with steam, chemicals, or high-temperature water, sterilization ...
Sterilization using steam can also be done at a temperature of 132 C (270 F), at a double pressure. [citation needed] Dry heat sterilization is performed at 170 C (340 F) for one hour or two hours at a temperature of 160 C (320 F). Dry heat sterilization can also be performed at 121 C, for at least 16 hours. [17]
In microbiology, in the context of a sterilization procedure, the D-value or decimal reduction time (or decimal reduction dose) is the time (or dose of an antimicrobial drug) required, at a given condition (e.g. temperature) or set of conditions, to achieve a one-log reduction, that is, to kill 90% of relevant microorganisms. [1]
The practice of reusing medical devices labeled for only one use began in hospitals in the late 1970s. [8] After a thorough review by the U.S. FDA in 1999 and 2000, [8] the agency released a guidance document for reprocessed SUDs that began regulating the sale of these reprocessed devices on the market, [9] under the condition that third-party reprocessors would be treated as the manufacturer ...