Question:easy
In a surgery ward, what is the best method of prevention of post op wound infection in patients, and hence preventing their spread to other patients?
In a surgery ward, what is the best method of prevention of post op wound infection in patients, and hence preventing their spread to other patients?
Show Hint
Think about what actually travels from one wound dressing to the next patient.
Updated On: Jul 8, 2026
- Hand washing prior to and in between patient examination and dressings
- Fumigation of the ward
- Cleaning of the floor with Ceramide
- Vancomycin prophylaxis
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Picture how infection actually travels on a ward.
A nurse or doctor moves from one bed to the next, touching dressings, wounds, and equipment along the way. If hands are not cleaned between these contacts, germs from one patient's wound ride along to the next patient.
Step 2: Match the measure to this route.
Washing hands right before touching a patient, and again between each patient, cuts this chain at its weakest link. This is why hand hygiene is called the single most powerful infection control tool in any ward.
Step 3: Test the other choices against the same route.
Fumigating the air does not clean the hands that actually touch the wound, and has no proven benefit for surgical infection rates. Mopping the floor deals with a surface that is rarely, if ever, in direct contact with an open wound. Giving vancomycin to everyone treats a symptom that has not even appeared yet, wastes a valuable antibiotic, and encourages resistant germs to develop, none of which stops hand to hand spread.
Step 4: Conclude.
Only hand washing directly interrupts the real pathway of spread.
\[ \boxed{\text{Hand washing before and between patient contact}} \]
A nurse or doctor moves from one bed to the next, touching dressings, wounds, and equipment along the way. If hands are not cleaned between these contacts, germs from one patient's wound ride along to the next patient.
Step 2: Match the measure to this route.
Washing hands right before touching a patient, and again between each patient, cuts this chain at its weakest link. This is why hand hygiene is called the single most powerful infection control tool in any ward.
Step 3: Test the other choices against the same route.
Fumigating the air does not clean the hands that actually touch the wound, and has no proven benefit for surgical infection rates. Mopping the floor deals with a surface that is rarely, if ever, in direct contact with an open wound. Giving vancomycin to everyone treats a symptom that has not even appeared yet, wastes a valuable antibiotic, and encourages resistant germs to develop, none of which stops hand to hand spread.
Step 4: Conclude.
Only hand washing directly interrupts the real pathway of spread.
\[ \boxed{\text{Hand washing before and between patient contact}} \]
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