Microbial Decontamination: Understanding the Concepts and Types of
Decontamination Methods, and Evaluating Their Usefulness
Abstract
Effective microbial decontamination of healthcare equipment, tools and
surfaces is imperative in order to prevent the transmission of pathogens
among patients, medical staff and visitors. The terminology used to
describe microbial decontamination processes, including “sanitizing”,
“sanitizing”, “antiseptic” and “sterilization”, is frequently used
interchangeably, and the evaluation parameters are often misunderstood.
Hence, the main objective of this review is to comprehensively explain
the concepts of microbial decontamination, highlight the different types
of microbial decontamination in terms of effectiveness of
decontamination and how they perform with respect to microbial
resistance.