title: Disinfection and sterilization: an overview.
abstract: All invasive procedures involve contact by a medical device or surgical instrument with a patient's sterile tissue or mucous membranes. The level of disinfection or sterilization is dependent on the intended use of the object: critical (items that contact sterile tissue such as surgical instruments), semicritical (items that contact mucous membrane such as endoscopes), and noncritical (devices that contact only intact skin such as stethoscopes) items require sterilization, high-level disinfection, and low-level disinfection, respectively. Cleaning must always precede high-level disinfection and sterilization.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Health Care System, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030, USA. brutala@unch.unc.edu
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Rutala
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D019723:Endoscopes; D006801:Humans; D013242:Sterilization / Q000379:methods; D019023:Stethoscopes; D013525:Surgical Instruments
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004202:Disinfectants