Antiseptics are chemical solutions that kill germs - bacteria - or stop them from multiplying. They are used to get rid of bacteria from the skin and things like clothing and furniture.
Antiseptics help to prevent diseases from spreading. Infections and infectious diseases are caused by germs. Germs include bacteria, viruses and fungi. But generally only bacteria are killed by antiseptics.
The air, all objects, and all animals, including human bodies, are full of germs. Most of these germs are harmless, and many are even useful to us. A few on the skin do not matter, but if the skin is scratched or cut, they can infect the wound. The body can fight harmful germs, but needs some help if there are too many. The cells inside our bodies are delicate and can be harmed by strong chemicals, so antiseptics are used only outside the body. Really strong antiseptics, that would even harm the skin, and can be used only on things like table tops and floors, are called disinfectants.
We owe our knowledge of infection to many men, including Joseph Lister, Louis Pasteur, Ignaz Semmelweis and Robert Koch.
Some antiseptics destroy germs. Others only stop them from growing and multiplying. One bacterium can multiply into one thousand bacteria in just three hours. Some types of germ produce hard cases round themselves, called spores. Antiseptics cannot kill germs enclosed in spores. An antiseptic does not sterilize, which means to kill absolutely all germs, but it can greatly reduce the number of germs.
Soap is a weak antiseptic. Surgeons scrub their nails, hands and arms thoroughly before performing an operation. There must be as few germs as possible in the operating room. Germs in an operation can cause disease and prevent proper healing.
In order to stop this happening, masks, gloves, swabs, sheets and surgical instruments are all sterilized, usually by heat. Modern surgery is carried out under essentially germ-free or 'aseptic' conditions. Not letting germs in at all is preferable to former times when the usual practice was to allow the germs in and then kill them with antiseptics.
Alcohol, in a 70 percent solution, is one antiseptic the doctor cleans your skin with before taking a blood sample, or giving an injection.
'Surgical spirit' is usually another kind of alcohol called isopropanol. Iodine and hydrogen peroxide are other well-known antiseptics. Joseph Lister, who actually introduced the use of antiseptics, used phenol (or carbolic acid as it was formerly called). Phenol itself is no longer used, but more effective compounds of the same type are to be found in many household antiseptics.
Germs can hide in dirt and debris, so the use of antiseptics is no substitute for cleanliness. It is more important to wash the dirt out of a wound than to treat it with antiseptic cream or solution. And an antiseptic mouthwash will probably not cure bad breath if your teeth are still covered with the sticky deposit called plaque in which germs hide. The best way to get rid of plaque is with a toothbrush.
Antiseptics help to prevent diseases from spreading. Infections and infectious diseases are caused by germs. Germs include bacteria, viruses and fungi. But generally only bacteria are killed by antiseptics.
The air, all objects, and all animals, including human bodies, are full of germs. Most of these germs are harmless, and many are even useful to us. A few on the skin do not matter, but if the skin is scratched or cut, they can infect the wound. The body can fight harmful germs, but needs some help if there are too many. The cells inside our bodies are delicate and can be harmed by strong chemicals, so antiseptics are used only outside the body. Really strong antiseptics, that would even harm the skin, and can be used only on things like table tops and floors, are called disinfectants.
We owe our knowledge of infection to many men, including Joseph Lister, Louis Pasteur, Ignaz Semmelweis and Robert Koch.
Some antiseptics destroy germs. Others only stop them from growing and multiplying. One bacterium can multiply into one thousand bacteria in just three hours. Some types of germ produce hard cases round themselves, called spores. Antiseptics cannot kill germs enclosed in spores. An antiseptic does not sterilize, which means to kill absolutely all germs, but it can greatly reduce the number of germs.
Soap is a weak antiseptic. Surgeons scrub their nails, hands and arms thoroughly before performing an operation. There must be as few germs as possible in the operating room. Germs in an operation can cause disease and prevent proper healing.
In order to stop this happening, masks, gloves, swabs, sheets and surgical instruments are all sterilized, usually by heat. Modern surgery is carried out under essentially germ-free or 'aseptic' conditions. Not letting germs in at all is preferable to former times when the usual practice was to allow the germs in and then kill them with antiseptics.
Alcohol, in a 70 percent solution, is one antiseptic the doctor cleans your skin with before taking a blood sample, or giving an injection.
'Surgical spirit' is usually another kind of alcohol called isopropanol. Iodine and hydrogen peroxide are other well-known antiseptics. Joseph Lister, who actually introduced the use of antiseptics, used phenol (or carbolic acid as it was formerly called). Phenol itself is no longer used, but more effective compounds of the same type are to be found in many household antiseptics.
Germs can hide in dirt and debris, so the use of antiseptics is no substitute for cleanliness. It is more important to wash the dirt out of a wound than to treat it with antiseptic cream or solution. And an antiseptic mouthwash will probably not cure bad breath if your teeth are still covered with the sticky deposit called plaque in which germs hide. The best way to get rid of plaque is with a toothbrush.
