Sanitary Bacteriology

Sanitary Bacteriology, a gradually developing branch of bacteriology, has as its task the application of bacteriological methods to the study of individual objects and areas of sanitary affairs. Since medical bacteriology, along with general questions of microbiology, studies primarily questions of etiology, diagnosis, and specific therapy of infectious diseases, sanitary bacteriology concentrates its attention mainly on the study of the external environment by the same methods, for the purpose of carrying out and implementing corresponding sanitary measures to improve this environment. In view of this, the subjects of study of sanitary bacteriology are all those elements of the external environment which at the same time constitute objects of general hygienic study. These include air, water, soil, housing and its furnishings, clothing and footwear, food products. For bacteriological examination of all these objects, their own, often specific methods and their standardization are established; sanitary tasks, sanitary legislation and practice dictate their own special requirements here (time limits, periodicity, seasonality, simplification of methodology—so-called field analyses—and others). At the same time, questions arise regarding the establishment of indicators of bacterial contamination of various objects (Bact. coli for sanitary assessment of water and others). Sanitary bacteriology is now practically emerging as a special subject of knowledge for sanitary physicians and engineers and is beginning to be introduced into the training courses for these specialists. In general, sanitary bacteriology has not yet received its final form; some authors include in it such questions as bacteriological methods for examining disinfectants and bacteriological control of disinfection, as well as questions of methodology for examining bacillus-carriage and others. Since these latter questions are also connected with the practical tasks of sanitary authorities, such an expansion of the understanding of sanitary bacteriology has certain grounds. It is necessary in any case to point out that the practical isolation of such a discipline as sanitary bacteriology is fully justified by the corresponding practical demands of sanitary workers.