The bacterial flora of the skin and its relation to post-operative wound infection

Abstract

THE work of Semmelweis, Pasteur and Lister which marks the beginning of modern surgery and the birth of the new science of bacteriology demonstrated the importance of potential infection in the skin of the patient and the hands of the surgeon and his assistants. An important study of the problem was undertaken by Price (1938). He classified the bacterial population of the skin into: 1 Residents present in the deeper portions of the skin. 2 Transients on the skin surface.