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The Pasteur principles regarding the cause of infection and the measures that need to be taken in order to prevent it have become a necessity of the first rank, representing, at the same time, the decisive factor of progress in modern dentistry. Nowadays, based on these principles, from the simplest bandage to the most complex surgery, these are carried out with the help of materials, dental hands and a surgery area where the pathogenic germs have been destroyed. These measures are based on asepsis and antisepsis, methods that perform the disinfection. Asepsis represents the prophylactic side of the disinfection and addresses all the moments that present the risk of contamination. It represents the set of measures by means of which the contact between germs and surgery or accidental plague is avoided. It is a prophylactic method. Antisepsis represents the totality of the means by which the destruction of the germs present in a plague, on the skin or in the environment is sought; it is a curative method. The main mechanisms of action of antiseptics on microorganisms are: altered outer membrane, amino group blockage, tiolitic group blockage, inhibition of ergosterol synthesis, cytoplasmic membrane alteration, energy decoupling, intracytoplasmic clotting. The study comprises 135 sterilizations performed over a period of two years; 107 (79.26%) were done in autoclaves, 7 (5.18%) in ethylene oxide, and 21 (15.56%) in hydrogen peroxide. The use of an antiseptic for long periods of time must be avoided due to the fact that, in the case of those containing heavy metals in their structure, they can be cumulated in the human body, and when toxic concentrations are reached, various toxicities can be triggered.

The infection with Clostridium difficile (CDI), which appeared at epidemic level, after acquiring the germ of some fluoroquinolone resistance genes, initially considered nosocomial infection and adverse effect post-antibiotic therapy, is affecting more and more people without risk factors and extending into the community. This paper proposes an analysis of the two main antibiotics used in therapy: metronidazole and vancomycin, the evidence of efficacy in the literature and the chemical stability of antibiotics in simulated gastrointestinal fluid. Based on UV-Vis absorption spectra, it can be considered that there are no major changes in the chemical structure of the investigated drugs in the presence of gastro-duodenal conditions. Clinical impact of comparative treatment with metronidazole and vancomycin has also been studied, in a group of 720 CDI patients hospitalized during the period 1.01.2017-31.12.2018 in the Clinical Hospital St. Parascheva of Infectious Diseases Galati. From this group, two subgroups were selected, one of 284 patients receiving oral vancomycin treatment and one group of 62 patients receiving oral metronidazole for an initial nonsevere episode of CDI. The number of days from the beginning of the treatment until the normalization of the stool, the length of hospitalization, the number of days of antibiotic treatment and the percentage of relapses were comparable in the two groups, the percentage of deaths in the first 30 days from the episode of CDI was higher in the vancomycin-treated group, probably due mainly to the severe comorbidities of these patients. The conclusion of the study is that the treatments with metronidazole and vancomycin, of the initial episode, nonsevere of CDI are comparable as a therapeutic response, provided that the patients treated with metronidazole do not associate hepatic, renal or neurological impairment due to the risk of adverse reactions.

Laboratory medicine's practitioners across the European community include medical, scientifi c and pharmacy trained specialists whose contributions to health and healthcare is in the application of diagnostic tests for screening and early detection of disease, differential diagnosis, monitoring, management and treatment of patients, and their prognostic assessment. In submitting a revised common syllabus for post-graduate education and training across the 27 member states an expectation is set for harmonised, high quality, safe practice. In this regard an extended 'Core knowledge, skills and competencies' division embracing all laboratory medicine disciplines is described. For the fi rst time the syllabus identifi es the competencies required to meet clinical leadership demands for defi ning, directing and assuring the effi ciency and effectiveness of laboratory services as well as expectations in translating knowledge and skills into ability to practice. In a 'Specialist knowledge' division, the expectations from the individual disciplines of Clinical Chemistry/Immunology, Haematology/Blood Transfusion, Microbiology/ Virology, Genetics and In Vitro Fertilisation are described. Beyond providing a common platform of knowledge, skills and competency, the syllabus supports the aims of the European Commission in providing safeguards to increasing professional mobility across European borders at a time when demand for highly qualifi ed professionals is increasing and the labour force is declining. It continues to act as a guide for the formulation of national programmes supplemented by the needs of individual country priorities.