Antiseptic

The process of wound healing ideally progresses from inflammation to epithelialization and, finally, remodeling. If at any point bacterial (or fungal) colonization becomes prominent, the process of wound healing is disrupted. The creation of biofilm is a microbial defense mechanism that stalls the trajectory of healthy wound healing and can contribute to the development of a chronic wound. It is estimated that 90% of chronic wounds and 6% of acute wounds contain biofilms generated by microbes. Epidemiologically, chronic wounds impact 2% of the entire US population. Because of this large impact, knowledge of proper wound healing and use of clinical tools to assist the wound healing process are essential.

September is designated as Sepsis Awareness Month, and it offers us time to reflect on the critical medical developments that have brought us to the current era of infectious disease treatment. The first movement toward infection control was with the introduction of antiseptics in the 19th century. To today’s clinicians, it may seem unfathomable that hand washing was once viewed as preposterous, but the progression of medicine can be convoluted. This convolution can be observed when discussing the beginning of the Antiseptic Era.