Action of Disinfectants

Modes of action of disinfectants.

The exact mechanism of action of a disinfectant is not easy to elucidate. The notion of 'target' in the bacterial cell, frequently evoked for the antibiotics, is not clear for disinfectants (except for some, e.g. chlorhexidine). In understanding the mode of action of a disinfectant, it can be difficult to distinguish the primary stage (characteristic of the mode of action) and the secondary sta...

Antiseptics and disinfectants: activity, action, and resistance.

Antiseptics and disinfectants are extensively used in hospitals and other health care settings for a variety of topical and hard-surface applications. A wide variety of active chemical agents (biocides) are found in these products, many of which have been used for hundreds of years, including alcohols, phenols, iodine, and chlorine. Most of these active agents demonstrate broad-spectrum antimic...

Pathogens protection against the action of disinfectants in multispecies biofilms

Biofilms constitute the prevalent way of life for microorganisms in both natural and man-made environments. Biofilm-dwelling cells display greater tolerance to antimicrobial agents than those that are free-living, and the mechanisms by which this occurs have been investigated extensively using single-strain axenic models. However, there is growing evidence that interspecies interactions may pro...

The Value of Disinfectants

The Value of Disinfectants

Sir,?I should like to hear the opinion of some of your readers about the value of disinfectants. Are they any good at all, or might we not just as well pour our money down the drain? Of course, I think that steam disinfection is very useful, but are any of the other ways of disinfecting any good to prevent the spread of disease, or are they only " eye-wash "? I enclose a stamped addressed envel...