Which of the following is NOT a stage of infection control?

Infection control consists of several critical stages aimed at preventing the spread of pathogens and ensuring the safety of medical instruments and environments. The stages typically include cleaning, packaging, and sterilization. Each of these processes plays a unique and vital role.

Cleaning is the initial step where visible soil and organic material are removed from instruments and surfaces. This is essential because sterilization can only be effective if the items are clean. Packaging follows cleaning, where instruments are wrapped in materials that allow steam penetration during sterilization, protecting them from recontamination during the sterilization process and storage.

Sterilization is the final and crucial stage that eliminates all forms of microbial life, including spores, ensuring that the instruments are safe for use.

Washing, while it might seem relevant to cleaning, is not typically classified as a distinct stage in the formal process of infection control. Rather, washing is a part of the cleaning process. Therefore, it does not stand alone as a recognized stage of infection control. The distinction is important to understand the systematic approach employed in infection control practices.