Innovation for infection prevention and control-revisiting Pasteur's vision

Gabriel Birgand; Raheelah Ahmad; Andre N H Bulabula; Sanjeev Singh; Gonzalo Bearman; Enrique Castro Sánchez; Alison Holmes

doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02459-X

Innovation for infection prevention and control-revisiting Pasteur's vision

Lancet. 2022 Dec 17;400(10369):2250-2260. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02459-X.

Authors

Gabriel Birgand¹, Raheelah Ahmad², Andre N H Bulabula³, Sanjeev Singh⁴, Gonzalo Bearman⁵, Enrique Castro Sánchez⁶, Alison Holmes⁷

Affiliations

¹ Centre d'appui pour la Prévention des Infections Associées aux Soins, Nantes, France; National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance at Imperial College London, London, UK.
² National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance at Imperial College London, London, UK; School of Health and Psychological Sciences, City University of London, London, UK; Institute of Business and Health Management, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
³ Infection Control Africa Network - ICAN, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita University, Kerala, India.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
⁶ National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance at Imperial College London, London, UK; College of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare, Richard Wells Centre, University of West London, London, UK.
⁷ National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance at Imperial College London, London, UK; Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. Electronic address: alison.holmes@imperial.ac.uk.

Abstract

Louis Pasteur has long been heralded as one of the fathers of microbiology and immunology. Less known is Pasteur's vision on infection prevention and control (IPC) that drove current infection control, public health, and much of modern medicine and surgery. In this Review, we revisited Pasteur's pioneering works to assess progress and challenges in the process and technological innovation of IPC. We focused on Pasteur's far-sighted conceptualisation of the hospital as a reservoir of microorganisms and amplifier of transmission, aseptic technique in surgery, public health education, interdisciplinary working, and the protection of health services and patients. Examples from across the globe help inform future thinking for IPC innovation, adoption, scale up and sustained use.

Publication types

Historical Article
Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

France
Health Education
History, 19th Century
Humans
Infection Control*
Interdisciplinary Studies
Public Health*