Asepsis
Practices that reduce or eliminate microorganisms to prevent infection.
Asepsis is the set of practices that reduce or eliminate microorganisms to prevent infection. Medical asepsis is clean technique — hand hygiene, a clean environment, and standard precautions — that reduces the number of microbes, while surgical asepsis is sterile technique that eliminates all microorganisms and their spores, as required for invasive procedures and sterile fields. Knowing which level a task demands prevents both under-protection and wasteful over-use of sterile supplies.