HISTORY

OF
HYGIENE
ETYMOLOGY

Hygiene first attest in english in 1677s

First attested in English in 1676, the
word hygiene comes from
the French hygiène, the latinisation of
the Greek , meaning "(art) of health",
"good for the health, healthy“.
In ancient Greek religion, Hygeiamwas
the personification of health,
cleanliness, and hygiene.
• Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According
to the World Health Organization, "Hygiene refers to conditions and
practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases."
Personal hygiene refers to maintaining the body's cleanliness

DEFINITION
CONT;

HYGIENE IS A CONCEPT HYGIENE PRACTICES IN THE THE OTHER USES OF THE

RELATED TO VARY, AND WHAT IS MANUFACTURING OF TERMS CLEANLINESS A TERM APPEAR IN
CLEANLINESS, HEALTH CONSIDERED FOOD, ND HYGIENE ARE PHRASES
AND MEDICINE. IT IS AS ACCEPTABLE IN PHARMACEUTICAL, OFTEN USED INCLUDING BODY
WELL RELATED TO ONE CULTURE MIGHT COSMETIC AND OTHER INTERCHANGEABLY, HYGIENE, PERSONAL
PERSONAL AND NOT BE ACCEPTABLE IN PRODUCTS, GOOD WHICH CAN CAUSE HYGIENE, SLEEP
PROFESSIONAL CARE ANOTHER. HYGIENE IS A CRITICAL CONFUSION. IN HYGIENE, MENTAL
PRACTICES. IN COMPONENT GENERAL, HYGIENE HYGIENE, DENTAL
MEDICINE AND OF QUALITY REFERS TO PRACTICES HYGIENE, AND OCCUPA
EVERYDAY LIFE ASSURANCE. THAT PREVENT SPREAD TIONAL HYGIENE, USED
SETTINGS, HYGIENE OF DISEASE-CAUSING IN CONNECTION
PRACTICES ARE ORGANISMS. CLEANING WITH PUBLIC
EMPLOYED AS PROCESSES (E.G., HEALTH. HYGIENE IS
PREVENTIVE HANDWASHING) ALSO THE NAME OF A
MEASURES TO REDUCE REMOVE INFECTIOUS BRANCH OF SCIENCE
THE INCIDENCE AND MICROBES AS WELL AS THAT DEALS WITH THE
SPREADING OF DIRT AND SOIL, AND PROMOTION AND
DISEASE. ARE THUS OFTEN THE PRESERVATION OF
MEANS TO ACHIEVE HEALTH.
HYGIENE.
TYPES OF HYGIENE

There are many Personal Home hygiene Medical hygiene Food and water
types of hygiene hygiene
including :
• Home hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices that prevent or minimize
the spread of disease at home and other everyday settings such as social
settings, public transport, the workplace, public places, etc.

• Hygiene in a variety of settings plays an important role in preventing the

spread of infectious diseases .It includes procedures used in a variety of
domestic situations such as hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, food and
water hygiene, general home hygiene (hygiene of environmental sites and
surfaces), care of domestic animals, and home health care (the care of
those who are at greater risk of infection).

• At present, these components of hygiene tend to be regarded as separate

issues, although based on the same underlying microbiological principles.
Preventing the spread of diseases means breaking the chain of infection
transmission. Simply put, if the chain of infection is broken, infection
cannot spread. In response to the need for effective codes of hygiene in
home and everyday life settings the International Scientific Forum on
Home Hygiene has developed a risk-based approach based on Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), also referred to as "targeted
hygiene." Targeted hygiene is based on identifying the routes of pathogen
spread in the home and introducing hygiene practices at critical times to
break the chain of infection.
• The main sources of infection in the home are people (who are carriers or are infected), foods (particularly raw
foods) and water, and domestic animals (in the U.S. more than 50% of homes have one or more pets ). Sites that
accumulate stagnant water—such as sinks, toilets, waste pipes, cleaning tools, face cloths, etc. readily support
microbial growth and can become secondary reservoirs of infection, though species are mostly those that
threaten "at risk" groups. 
The main "highways" for the spread of pathogens in the home are the hands, hand and food contact
surfaces, and cleaning cloths and utensils. Pathogens can also be spread via clothing and household
linens, such as towels. Utilities such as toilets and wash basins, for example, were invented for
dealing safely with human waste but still have risks associated with them. Safe disposal of human
waste is a fundamental need; poor sanitation is a primary cause of diarrhea disease in low income
communities. Respiratory viruses and fungal spores are spread via the air.

Hygienic cleaning can be done through:

Mechanical removal (i.e., cleaning) using a soap or detergent. To be effective as a hygiene measure,
this process must be followed by thorough rinsing under running water to remove pathogens from
the surface.
Using a process or product that inactivates the pathogens in situ. Pathogen kill is achieved using a
"micro-biocidal" product, i.e., a disinfectant or antibacterial product; waterless hand sanitizer; or by
application of heat.
In some cases combined pathogen removal with kill is used, e.g., laundering of clothing and
household linens such as towels and bed linen.
HISTORY
• Travelling back in time, we might be shocked at some of the un-hygienic practices that were
carried out - or not carried out as the case may be. Having said this, it's a myth that people in
the past never had a bath. Most rich people did, using a large barrel shaped construction for
bathing in hot water. From the 13th century, there were also public baths. The water was heated
from the log fires nearby and carried by servants to the tub. However, the down side was that
many of these buildings caught fire and usually took a number of other structures down as well
before the fire died out. In addition, when firewood became more scarce, due to decimation of
forests, it was expensive to have a bath. Either whole families and friends shared the water or
many had to remain dirty.
 IN ADDITION, MOST LARGE HOUSES
POOR PEOPLE BATHED IN COLD AND CASTLES DID HAVE AREAS FOR
WATER, BUT FOR OBVIOUS WASHING HANDS BOTH BEFORE
REASONS PROBABLY WASHED AND AFTER A MEAL.
NEVERTHELESS, IN OTHER AREAS
LESS FREQUENTLY. THEY OF LIFE HYGIENE WAS
WOULD USE WATER WHERE IT PRACTICALLY NON-EXISTENT.
WAS CONVENIENT TO DO SO - A MAINLY DUE TO IGNORANCE OF,
RIVER, LAKE OR BY CARRYING FOR EXAMPLE, BACTERIA AND
WATER TO THE HOME. VIRUSES AND THE PRINCIPLES OF
CROSS-INFECTION.
BATHS AND WASHING METHODS
It is widely believed that people in the old ages did not have enough
water to wash and bathe. This is true, up to a certain extent. In fact,
such a statement may apply only to the poor families that were
obliged to wash with cold water, or in rivers and streams (considering
their circumstances, it is understandable why they would not indulge
in washing). On the other hand, wealthy families during the Roman
and Greek period were able to attend the public baths, which provided
their customers with warm water which was heated with log fires.

Between 300 BC- 400 AD, the Ancient Romans constructed a system

of aqueducts that were able to bring fresh water through pumps into
the homes of the rich, fountains and baths. Thanks to such an
improvement, the Romans were able to provide their people with
adequate hygiene. It was of primal importance to maintain the waters
in a clean state, thus, the removal of corpses and dead animals was
fundamental in maintaining the water free from intoxication. One of
the most important public baths was the Baths of Caracalla, built by
Emperor Caracalla between 212-216 AD. These baths are still an
incredible tourist attraction
• Regular bathing was a hallmark of Roman
civilization.[67] Elaborate baths were
constructed in urban areas to serve the public,
who typically demanded the infrastructure to
maintain personal cleanliness. The complexes
usually consisted of large, swimming pool-like
baths, smaller cold and hot pools, saunas, and
spa-like facilities where individuals could be
depilated, oiled, and massaged. Water was
constantly changed by an aqueduct-fed flow.
Bathing outside of urban centers involved
smaller, less elaborate bathing facilities, or
simply the use of clean bodies of water. Roman
cities also had large sewers, such as
Rome's Cloaca Maxima, into which public and
private latrines drained. Romans didn't have
demand-flush toilets but did have some toilets
with a continuous flow of water under them.
The Romans used scented oils (mostly from
Egypt), among other alternatives.
During the Middle Ages bathing was considered a sin, a form of sexual pleasure, and a
way to become possessed by the devil. However, at the outbreak of the Black Death,
people started washing more frequently by employing hot water, warm wine and
vinegar (which helped to kill bacteria). The practice of having baths was slowly
introduced within the households, and bathing was carried out in a specific order: the
husband was the first, followed by his sons, his wife, his daughters, and his babies. In
wealthier families, water was mixed with scented flowers or oils. Soap was first
introduced during the age of crusades: knights had brought them back from the East
(Knight 2008).
 • in mid-19th century England, outbreaks of cholera (of bacterial origin)
led to an epidemic of massive proportions, leaving tens of thousands of
CLEAN people dead and more ailing. At the time, people knew little about the
microbial origins or spread of infectious diseases. Rather, they were
DRINKING convinced that the cholera disease was caused by poisonous gasses
from sewers, open graves, and other places of decay.
WATER: JOHN • John Snow was a medical doctor who observed that cholera appeared to
be spread not through poisonous gasses, but from sewage-contaminated
SNOW AND water.3 He noticed that most of the cholera-related deaths occurred near
a pump on Broad Street, where residents of the area frequently stopped
THE BROAD to drink water. Dr. Snow removed the pump handle, and almost
instantaneously, the spread of the disease was contained. Although it
STREET PUMP took some time for the local government to believe his assertions and
take action, Dr. Snow’s theories and findings represent major
contributions both in the understanding of origins of infectious disease
and in the disseminated use of clean drinking water.​​
 HOUSEHOLD HABITS
•Because of their hygienic habits, during the Middle Ages, it was not uncommon to be bitten by lice and fleas: in fact, they were carriers of infections
and the poor were highly exposed to their danger due to their bad eating habits. A simple bite could lead to the lowering of one’s immune system and
the subsequent spreading of other diseases such as typhus and tapeworms (Howell 2013). Moreover, people covered the floors of their homes with
straw and ‘sweet-smelling wildflowers and herbs to fragrance the room’ (Howell 2013) in order to hide filth and dirt which remained untouched for
decades at times. In fact, following his journey to England in the XVI century, Erasmus wrote: ‘The floors are, in general, laid with white clay, and are
covered with rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for twenty years, harbouring
expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned. Whenever the
weather changes a vapour is exhaled, which I consider very detrimental to health’ (Howell 2013; citing Erasmus). In essence, dirt was not cleaned, and
homes often became a breeding ground for bacteria and rats.
•Toilets and Disposal of Waste
•In the Roman era, not only were toilets public, but they were also a great place to meet new people and to socialise (after all, they must have been one
of the most frequented places in the city!). Although in our times this seems shocking, for the Romans it was a perfectly normal habit and they would
not mind carrying out their physical duties in public latrines (i.e. toilets). For those who preferred to be more private, there existed smaller latrines
which could contain up to ten people; other larger latrines could have a capacity of more than forty people. The Roman sewage system was
characterised by quite complicated engineering.
 • For centuries there has been some form or another used to
maintain food safety. Some of the techniques used in the past
would, in all likelihood, fail to meet modern food safety
requirements but, despite this, food safety has always been
important.
More recently, over the past three decades numerous outbreaks
and public scares have led to many revisions in food safety law. So,
how has food safety changed over the years?

Constant Developments in Food Safety

HISTORY OF FOOD
Ever since chemicals and preservatives were added to food to
maintain its taste and cleanliness, attention has been paid to its
safety. Traditional methods of salting, smoking or fermenting food

HYGIENE
to maintain it have led to some common ways of adding flavour
but these methods are now subject to their own food safety
inspections.

Food manufacturing, which is exposed to numerous safety

requirements, began with the industrial revolution in the 19th
Century. This coincided with greater consideration towards
hygiene and the abolishment of selling rancid or contaminated
food.

The work of Louis Pasteur, the famous scientist, led to

breakthroughs in modern sanitisation – the same kind of
discoveries that still govern food safety today.
CONT;

• Modern Legislation and Authorities

Yet it is in more recent times that we have seen more and more legislation passed and technology developed to improve food safety
standards. Things like the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), which was launched in the 1960s, continues to be
a useful risk management tool for the identification and elimination of food hazards. Additionally the FSA(Food Standards
Agency) provide information and advice food safety.

• Food  safety  is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food borne illness.
This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards. Food can transmit disease
from person to person as well as serve as a growth medium for bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Debates on genetic food
safety include such issues as impact of genetically modified food on health of further generations and genetic pollution of
environment, which can destroy natural biological diversity. In developed countries there are intricate standards for food
preparation, whereas in lesser developed countries the main issue is simply the availability of adequate safe water, which is usually
a critical item.
01 02 03 04
4000 BC – Egyptian women 2800 BC – Some of the earliest 1550-1200 BC – The Ancient
apply galena mesdemet (made of signs of soap or soap-like Israelites took a keen interest in
copper and lead ore) and 3000 BC – The Ancient Romans products were found in clay hygiene. Moses gave the
malachite to        their faces for invented lead-lined water pipes cylinders during the excavation Israelites detailed laws
color and definition. and tanks. The rich paid private of ancient Babylon. Inscriptions governing personal cleanliness.
water companies for their on the side of the cylinders say He also related cleanliness to
drinking water and other water that fats were boiled with ashes, health and religious purification.
needs, although it wasn’t much but did not refer to the purpose Biblical accounts suggest that
better than the water supply the of ‘soap’. the Israelites knew that mixing
peasants used. Most water ashes and oil produced a kind of
systems where made from elm hair gel.
trunks and domestic pipes lined
with lead. Water was stored in
large lead tanks and often
became stagnant.

HYGIENE TIMELINE
CONT;

1500 BC – Records show that 1200-200 BC – The ancient Greeks 1000 BC – Grecians whitened their 600 BC – Ancient Greeks start
ancient Egyptians bathed regularly. bathed for aesthetic reasons and complexion with chalk or lead face using public baths. In The Book of
The Ebers Papyrus, a medical apparently did not use soap. Instead, powder and fashioned crude lipstick the Bath, Françoise de Bonneville
document from about 1500 B.C they cleaned their bodies with out of ochre clays laced with red wrote, “The history of public baths
describes combining animal and blocks of clay, sand, pumice and iron. begins in Greece in the sixth
vegetable oils with alkaline salts to ashes, then anointed themselves century BC” where men and women
form a soap-like material used for with oil, and scraped off the oil washed in basins near places of
treating skin diseases, as well as for axnd dirt with a metal instrument exercise. The Ancient Greeks also
washing. known as a strigil. They also used start using chamber pots. Used from
oil with ashes. at least 600 BC by ancient Grecians,
they’ve been used up till around the
18th century all over the world.
CONT;

• 300 BC – Wealthy Ancient Romans began to use wiping techniques in their
toilet habits. Common materials used were wool and rosewater. About 100
years later, the more common Romans used a sponge soaked in salt water.
• 19 BC – Anicient Romans began to use public baths. Agrippa (Emperor
Augustus’ right-hand man) built the first public baths called Thermae in the
year 19 BC. They increased in number rapidly; at least 170 were operating in
Rome by the year 33 BC, with more than 800 operating at the height of their
popularity.
• 27 BC – Ancient Romans believed in the ability of urine to remove stains.
Until the medieval period,  people used lye, made of ashes and urine, to clean
their clothes.
• 100 AD – The Ancient Romans developed cesspits, usually in the cellar or
garden. In 1183 BC a Roman Emperor’s hall floor collapsed, sending dinner
guests into the cesspit where some of them, unfortunately, drowned.
CONT;
400 AD – In Medieval Britain, the population had begun various habits to keep their teeth clean. This included rinsing your mouth
out with water, or a mixture of vinegar and mint, to remove gunk. Bay leaves soaked in orange flower water were also used, and
the teeth would often be rubbed with a clean cloth too.

1110 AD – In Britain, one pamphlet recommended that people keep their teeth white by rubbing their teeth with powdered fish
bones and then rinsing their mouths out with a mixture of vinegar and sulphuric acid!

1308 AD – In Britain it was common for your barber to remove problem teeth! If basic treatments didn’t fix the problem, the
barber would be removing it, without the help of novocaine! A guide for Barbers was established in 1308 teaching barbers surgery
skills.

1346-1353 AD – Black Death pandemic swept across Europe killing 40-50% of the population during a 4 year period. Likely
originating in Central Asia, it was probably spread through trade routes.
 1500-1600 AD – Pale faces were
fashionable during the reign of Elizabeth
1566 – King James VI of Scotland wore
I. Ceruse was the foundation make-up
the same clothes for months on end, even
choice for both men and women in the
1400 AD – The Chinese invented toilet sleeping in them on occasion. He also kept
1 Elizibethan era, as it gave them a smooth, 2
paper. the same hat on 24 hours a day until it fell
pale look. However, it contained lead that
apart! He didn’t take a bath as he thought
seeped into the body through the skin,
it was bad for his health!
leading to poisoning. Varients with lead
have, been used for thousands of years.

1586– Sir John Harington invented a valve 1600-1700 – The same practices for

that when pulled would release water from 1600 – New developments in teeth cleaning were in use, but the ‘barbers’
a water closet. Albert Giblin holds the cleaning started to appear in Britain. (a.k.a dentists) had begun to learn more
1819 British Patent for the Silent Valveless Rubbing ones teeth with the ashes of about dentistry. The first dentures, gold
Water Waste Preventer, a system that 4 rosemary was common, and powdered 5 crowns, and porcelain teeth arrived in the
allowed a toilet to flush effectively. sage was used to rub on teeth as a 1700s. 1790 brought about the dental foot
Unfortunately there were no Sewers or whitening agent. Vinegar and wine were engine which rotated a drill for cleaning
running water at the time, so it wasn’t able also mixed to form a mouthwash. out cavities. The first dental chair was
to be practically used. made in the late 1700’s.
1750 – A letter from Lord Chesterfield
1789 – People were already fashion-
to his son urges the use of a sponge and
conscious during the 18th century.
warm water to scrub the teeth each
When their eyebrows did not look
morning. The recommendation of
fashionable, they often masked them
using one’s own urine in France was
with tiny pieces of skin from a mouse.
widely flouted by Fouchard, the French
Poems from as early as 1718
dentist. Gunpowder and alum were also
insinuated their use.
recommended.

1834 – The 1834 London Medical and

Surgical Journal describes sharp 1846 –  Public baths had been popular
stomach pains in patients with no since the 13th century. Due to the
evidence of disease.  This led them to scarcity of firewood, bathing became
believe “painter’s colic” was a an expensive practice.  Whole families
“nervous affection” of the intestines and friends had to share a bath, or
occurring when lead “is absorbed into many of them would remain dirty.
the body”.

1847 – A physician called Ignaz

Semmelwis found childbed fever
occurred in women who were assisted
by medical students. He found students
who assisted in childbirth did so after
autopsies. After instituting a strict hand
washing policy, deaths dropped by 20
fold within 3 months.
 1 2 3 4 5

1837 – 1901 – A nose-gay 1854 – In mid-18th 1858 – Hot weather struck 1861 – The modern 1920 – Lysol was sold as a
was typically a small century England, the capital in 1858, drying flushing toilet. Thomas genital disinfectant and
bouquet of flowers or a outbreaks of cholera led to up the River Thames and Crapper didn’t invent the birth control method. Lysol
sachet of herbs. It was an epidemic. A physician leaving pure sewage and flush toilet, but is ads proclaimed a host of
attached to the wrist on a called John Snow observed other wasted piled up and understood to have made benefits for every
lapel or simply held in the that cholera seemed to exposed. This was the start major contributions gynaecological need, and
hand. It would also be held spread via sewage- of ‘The Great Stink’, towards its development was the leading form of
under one’s nose for contaminated water. This forcing Parliament to close by implanting a modern birth control from 1930 to
people walking through was mostly noticed around for the day and eventually septic system that pumped 1960. Lysol is actually a
crowds. Nose-gays gained a water pump in Broad initiating a reform of the soiled waters out of the caustic poison causing
popularity during Queen Street, London. John sewerage systems and city. However this burns and itches after the
Victoria’s reign. removed the pump handle cesspits. particular subject is still first drop – most women
and the spread was heavily debated. were applying it to their
instantly contained. skin for 30 years.
THANKS
DONE BY : ONNAB
GROUP 7