Table 9.1.

Historical background leading to proper sterilization and disinfection protocols

Year	Event
• First century BC.	Varo and Columella postulated that diseases were caused by invisible beings, “animals minutia,” inhaled or ingested
• 500 AD	Sushruta instructed operating team members to clean and fumigate the operating theater with vapors of certain disinfectants prior to all surgical procedures
• 1493–1541	Paracelsus, called the father of medicine, reformed pharmacopeia and introduced compositions of lead, copper, sulfur, iron, and mercury
• 1546	Fracastorious proposed a “contagion vivum,” as the possible cause of infectious diseases.
• 1827–1912	Joseph Lister, “father of modern surgery,” demonstrated that antisepsis could prevent infections; also known as “Listerian era”
• 1889	William Stewart Halsted introduced rubber gloves for his scrub nurse
• 1882	Robert Koch introduced the use of mercuric bichloride as antiseptic agents and isolated the bacilli of tuberculosis
• 1880s and 1890s.	Sterilization of instruments, hand washing, and the wearing of masks, caps, gloves, and gowns was introduced