CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Dettol is the trade name for a line of hygiene products manufactured by Reckitt Benckiser. It has been in use since before the 1980s. Antiseptics anti, “against” “putrefactive are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction. Antiseptics are generally distinguished from antibiotics by the latter’s ability to be transported through the lymphatic system to destroy bacteria within the body and from disinfectant, which destroy microorganisms found on non-living objects.
Some antiseptics are true germicides, capable of destroying microbes (bacteriocidal), while others are bacteriostatic and only prevent or inhibit their growth.
Antibacterials are antiseptics that have the proven ability to act against bacteria. Microbilides which destroy virus particles are called viricides or antivirals.
For growth of bacteria, there must be a food supply, moisture, oxygen (if the bacteria is an obligate aerobe), and a certain minimum temperature. These conditions have been studied and dealth with in food preservation and the ancient practice of embalming the dead, which is the earliest known systematic use of antiseptics.
In early inquiries before there was an understanding of microbes, much emphasis was given to the prevention of putrefaction, and procedures were carried out to determine the amount of agent that was to be added to a given solution in order to prevent the development of pus and putrefaction; however, due to a lack of a developed understanding of germ theory this method was maccurate and, today, an antiseptic in judged by its effect on pure cultures of a defined microbe and or their vegetative and spore forms. The standardization of antiseptics has been implemented in many instances, and a water solution of phenol of a certain fixed strength is now used as the standard to which other antiseptics are compared.
The manufacturers of Dettol submit the following facts to your attention.
Wide mention in medical literature has made Dettol a tex-book antiseptic wide clinical use has attested the efficiency of Dettol in literally millions of cases which range from minor accident to major operation.