Hygiene – the journey of the germ

In this podcast, Jonathan Sackier talks to Sally Bloomfield, Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, about the importance of antimicrobial resistance and hygiene. Together, they explore the relationship between AMR and infectious diseases, and the importance of Targeted Hygiene in homes and everyday life in tackling, not only AMR but also the COVID-19 pandemic. They discuss how myths about “germs” and lack of understating of how they spread, coupled with lack of understanding of hygiene – what it is and how it differs from cleanliness – is acting as a barrier to changing public hygiene behaviour. Implementation of behaviour change strategies which develop understanding of the “journey of the germ” and how to break it are essential to ensure that our hygiene practices are appropriate to the urgent public health issues we currently face.

The podcast can be found on the resource link below: