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Hygiene in our modern world

Book Abstract by: ehibiz    

Original Author: Emmanuel Abraham
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Hygiene in our modern world / by Emmanuel Abraham Hygiene in our modern world at first
sight seems to be satisfactory. Nevertheless vulnerable groups are increasing in our society which Mean that hygiene is a crucial factor in the well being of many people involved.   Hygiene refers to the science of the establishment and maintenance of human health. The practice of hygiene concentrates especially on manipulating and controlling the environment for the benefit of the public health. It is concerned therefore with housing, water supplies, personal care and food. For a long time hygiene has been closely associated with good housekeeping. But in present days the meaning goes beyond that. Besides the general relation with public health, hygiene is extended to industrial and institutional hygiene. . In the past, ancient people have practiced cleanliness and personal hygiene, often for religious purpose, apparently a wish to be pure in the eyes of their gods; they looked upon epidemics as divine judgments on the wickedness of mankind. The idea that pestilence could be due to natural causes such as climate and physical environment gradually developed. The notion that microscopic organisms might cause infectious diseases begun to take shape in the 16th and 17th century For instance in Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries BC they tried to develop a rational, scientific theory on the cause of disease.        In that era, Hippocrates made a first systematic attempt to set forth a casual relationship between human diseases and the environment, Until the elaboration of bacteriology and immunology in the 19th century, this remained the theoretical basis for the comprehension of epidemic disease.   In the middle Ages a great number of diseases occurred in epidemic proportions. Among them: leprosy, small pox, plague, tuberculosis and scabies. The isolation of persons with contagious diseases and other hygienic precautions involving observation, station, isolation Hospitals and disinfections procedures arose in the response to the spread of leprosy and plague. Effort to improve sanitation included the development of pure water supplies, garbage and sewage disposal, and food inspection. These efforts were especially important in the cities where people lived in crowded conditions but still in a rural manner with many animals in and around the house.   Gradually the great sanitary Awakening began. There were greater awareness that environment influenced the physical and mental well being of the individual. The connection between dirty conditions and disease was gradually understood and measures were taken to control the disposal of sewage and the purity of water supplies. In Europe, America, Japan and other part of the world enthusiastic microbiologists established the causative microbes of gonorrhea, erysipelas, diphtheria, typhoid fever, dysentery, plague, gangrene, boils, tetanus, scarlet-fever and other diseases. Thus after thousands of years the cause of infection was revealed and the door was opened for the studies on the relationship between bacteria and disease in man and animals. These studies began to show the way in which bacteria spread and invade the human and animal body and methods of prevention and cure were investigated.   Poor hygiene and disinfection of homes, foods, water supplies and personal care had resulted in several death cases. In Africa for instance, there have been estimated numbers of water and food borne infections every year with varied fatality rates. This indicate that important factor in daily life such as food preservation and preparation, water supplies are far from hygienic.   In our modern society, the general feelings that hygiene is on a satisfactory level. Sometimes it is even feared that nowadays, we are too hygienic; that without daily exposure to some dirt and microbes, we do not have the opportunity to train our defense or immune systems and remain strong. However, our society is aging and the percentage of people that are in some way more vulnerable to infections is increasing. Moreover, as we have discovered quite recently with a number of newly emerging infectious diseases, microorganisms are highly adaptive and always there, and modern society has created new niches in which microbes now thrive.   Homes now serve as niche for microbes, more so when new technical facilities such as refrigerator, air conditioning units, microwave ovens etc. have entered the family homes and thus created new niches in which microbes now thrive.   Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach has been useful in ranking hygiene risks in the home. Good hygiene and disinfection implementation has a tremendous impact in sustaining public health. This has however met with multiple challenges.   It is hoped that in no distant future authorities and the public will give appreciative priority and more serious attention to hygiene as a way to promote public health in Africa and the world at large.      
Published: July 01, 2007
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