Infections and their control

To celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the appointment of the first Infection Control Nurse (in Torbay, England) the Infection Prevention Society invited me to prepare a compilation of the articles I have written over the years for the History of Infection Control series in the British Journal of Infection Control (now the Journal of Infection Prevention).

I have either suffered myself from the infections discussed, or had to deal with them in my daily working life. In addition I researched the lives of ‘pioneers’ such as Florence Nightingale, Semmelweis, Koch, Lister, Pasteur and Jenner using original material; often visiting relevant places to set the scene, and take personal pictures of memorabilia such as Florence Nightingale’s grave in East Wellow or Semmelweis hand basin in Vienna.

The series developed at random – in line with my interests, but has been logically re-ordered. The text is written from a personal viewpoint, and is well provided with illustrations.

I found it a fascinating project and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.