In clinical set-ups as well as in the production environment, e.g. in pharmaceutical or food production, hygiene is of outmost importansce.When confronted with pathogens or spoilage agents, especially if they are not yet well studied, effective hygiene protocols are needed. In the medical field, effective preventive measures are key to prevent vulnerable patients from infections. In production areas, effective hygiene measures are needed to protect goods from spoilage or microbial contamination.
The broad portfolio of standards/laboratory tests, to substantiate activity claims for chemical disinfectants addressing the special features of applications of antimicrobial formulations will be explained. Furthermore, the concept of using standardized surrogate test organisms is illustrated, and the European standardized test approach to claim microbicidal and virucidal efficacy, the specificity of claims and their relevance for hygiene measures are introduced.