Chapter 26, Problem 1Q

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The reason behind scrubbing with a brush followed by an antiseptic.

Introduction:

The microbes are the small organisms, which cannot be seen by naked eyes. Many microbes are pathogen and may infect if incorporated inside the body. Before and after surgery, surgeon wash the exposed body parts thoroughly, in order to avoid infections.

Explanation of Solution

There are many microbes present on the hands and skin. There are two types of microbes find on the hands, these are normal microbiota and transient microbiota. The normal microbiota consists of the microbes, which are present on the hand for a longer period of time or permanently. The transient microbiota consists of the microbes, which live for a shorter period of time and can be washed away.

Generally, the members of the transient microbiota are infectious and they can be removed by washing hand. The scrubbing of the hand with a brush helps in the mechanical removal of this transient microbes. But, even after complete mechanical cleaning, the traient bacteria are not completely cleaned. So, the cleaning process is followed by a chemical treatment, which is washing with antiseptic. This helps in cleaning harmful transient microbes.