Anthropology and germ theory

A small study of biomedical cultural influences which affect the implementation of infection control practice was undertaken. The study, between March and September 1992, was performed in a 10-bedded paediatric cardiac intensive care unit and a total parenteral nutrition (TPN) outpatient clinic in a paediatric hospital in London. An ethnographic approach incorporating participant observation of six ritualistic practices and semi-structured interviews from seven people experiencing hospital-acquired infection was undertaken. A phenomenological, analytical method was used in an attempt to give meaning to the experience and behaviour of nurses, doctors and parents. The study indicated that 'germ theory' did not equate to nursing or medical practice but that the culture of biomedicine may interfere with infection control knowledge which causes conflict of understanding.