The Principles of Medical Device Decontamination

Selecting the right decontamination/sterilisation method will not only depend on the nature of the agents involved but also the other factors described in this chapter. This will require a risk assessment with subsequent risk management, which is discussed in a later chapter.

References / Sources

1 National Institutes of Health. Human microbiome project defines normal bacterial makeup of the body. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NHI News 2012 available at: https://www.genome. gov/27549144/2012-release-nih-human-microbiome-project-defines- normal-bacterial-makeup-of-the-body

[Accessed 16th Nov 2025]

2 Sender R, Fuchs S, Milo R. Revised estimates for the number of human and bacteria cells in the body. PLoS Biol. 2016 Aug 19;14(8):e1002533. doi: 10.1371/ journal.pbio.1002533 available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ articles/PMC4991899/

[Accessed 16th Nov 2025]

3 Gilbert J, Blaser MJ, Caporaso JG, Jansson J, Lynch SV, Knight R. Current understanding of the human microbiome. Nat Med. 2018 Apr 10;24(4):392– 400. doi: 10.1038/nm.4517 available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ articles/PMC7043356/

[Accessed 16th Nov 2025]

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