Disinfection is a feminine noun meaning the action or process in disinfect something or someone. Disinfection can be from high, average or low level, depending on the objective and context in question.
In the field of medicine, disinfection aims to eliminate the risk of contagion by pathogens. Disinfection can be done through physical or chemical means. Physical means can be heat (dry or humid heat), sunlight, ignition (buckling), gamma rays, etc. Chemical agents can be formaldehyde, creoline, formalin, cresol, lysol, among others.
Most of the time, disinfection is a term that refers to the decrease in the number of microorganisms (pathogenic) of an inanimate object. Despite this, a disinfection does not always eliminate 100% of the microorganisms, but it prevents the object in question from being subject to an infection.
It is a term that is related to antisepsis (disinfection of living tissue through antiseptics), and sterilization (destruction of all germs found on the surface or inside a given object or environment).
Asepsis and antisepsis are forms of external disinfection. When a person has a contagious disease, they often have to be quarantined to avoid contact with other people. Often, people who are in contact with this person are at risk of contagion and have to be disinfected. When the contagious disease comes to an end, a terminal disinfection must be carried out in the patient's room, so that there are no microorganisms that could infect other people.
Before surgery, the asepsis it is crucial, as disinfection must occur in the surgeon's hands, surgical instruments and the entire room where the surgery takes place.
In some cases, disinfection may have to be done internally if pathogens are present in the person's blood or organs. Chemotherapy is one of the methods used to eliminate these microorganisms.
water disinfection
Many people get sick and die because they drink unsafe drinking water. Therefore, in many cases, water must be disinfected to make it drinkable. Some water disinfection processes are: chlorination, ozonation, chlorine dioxide, thermal disinfection, ultraviolet disinfection.
See also the meaning of Sterilization.