Resumen

HOYOS SERRANO, Maddelainne  y  GUTIERREZ CHOQUE, Lenny N.. Esterilizacion, desinfeccion, antisepticos y desinfectantes. Rev. Act. Clin. Med [online]. 2014, vol.49, pp. 2635-2640. ISSN 2304-3768.

The methods used to ensure safety against pathogens in a hospital, are sterilization, disinfection and antisepsis; the former is regarded as the most lethal process microorganisms objects used in daily clinical practice, the second it is considered as a method that has levels of disinfection and therefore its lethality is not so guaranteed, and Finally antisepsis is presumed as a different method for skin and mucosal surfaces. The various existing methods and techniques in these three types of processes vary according to the nature of the agent used to eliminate pathogens, which are used as physical: the autoclave, oven Pasteur, ionizing radiation and the micropores filters; among those chemicals are: high, medium and low level disinfection so that include: ethylene oxide, glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, alcohol, etc. It should be noted that there is much confusion between the terms of sterilization and disinfection because many of the high-level disinfectants function as chemical sterilizers, likewise, many of these disinfectants are used as antiseptics at different concentrations.

Palabras llave : Sterilization; Disinfection; Antiseptics; Disinfectants.