Germs and governance: the past, present and future of hospital infection, prevention and control

Introduction / Marguerite Dupree, Anne Marie Rafferty and Fay Bound Alberti

Part I. Policy and infection control

Hospital infections and the role of the community before MRSA, 1930-1960 / Flurin Condrau

Cleanliness costs: the evolving relationship between infection and length of stay in antibiotic-era hospitals / Sally Sheard

Part II. Infection control: Nurses and medical students

Pus, pedagogy and practice: how 'dirt' shaped surgical nurse training and hierarchies of practice, 1900-1935 / Pamela Wood

Septic subjects: infection control and occupational illness in British hospitals, c. 1870-1970 / Claire L. Jones

Learning the art and science of infection prevention and control: a practical application / Susan Macqueen

Part III. Practice and infection control: Focus on gloves

Wax paste and vaccination: alternatives to surgical gloves for infection control, 1880-1945 / Thomas Schlich

The evolving role of gloves in healthcare / Jennie Wilson

Part IV. Practice and infection control: In the laboratory

Constructing the 'Sanitary Officer': the Pathologist's role in infection prevention and control at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, 1892-1939 / Rosemary Cresswell

Infection control from the laboratory to the clinic: John H. Bowie and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, c.1945-1970 / Susan Gardiner

Part V. Into the future

Infection prevention and control in the twenty-first century: the era of patient safety / Neil Wigglesworth

Infection control and antimicrobial resistance: the past, the present and the future / Alistair Leanord

Conclusion: using the past / Marguerite Dupree, Anne Marie Rafferty and Fay Bound Alberti