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Multiple Choice

Which individual is noted for antiseptic practices in surgery, including hand hygiene?

Antiseptic practices in surgery and hand hygiene aim to prevent infection by removing or destroying microbes from hands, instruments, and the operative field. Joseph Lister is the key figure here. He linked contamination to infection and pioneered antiseptic surgery by using carbolic acid (phenol) to clean wounds, sterilize instruments, and keep the operating environment sanitary. He also emphasized the importance of clean hands and careful technique to reduce postoperative infections, which transformed surgical care and set the foundation for modern aseptic practice. While Pasteur helped establish germ theory and Koch advanced microbe identification, neither implemented antiseptic surgical methods in the way Lister did, and Galen lived in ancient times with ideas unrelated to antisepsis. So the person most associated with antiseptic surgery and explicit hand hygiene is Joseph Lister.

Antiseptic practices in surgery and hand hygiene aim to prevent infection by removing or destroying microbes from hands, instruments, and the operative field. Joseph Lister is the key figure here. He linked contamination to infection and pioneered antiseptic surgery by using carbolic acid (phenol) to clean wounds, sterilize instruments, and keep the operating environment sanitary. He also emphasized the importance of clean hands and careful technique to reduce postoperative infections, which transformed surgical care and set the foundation for modern aseptic practice. While Pasteur helped establish germ theory and Koch advanced microbe identification, neither implemented antiseptic surgical methods in the way Lister did, and Galen lived in ancient times with ideas unrelated to antisepsis. So the person most associated with antiseptic surgery and explicit hand hygiene is Joseph Lister.