Germs and Governance

Germs and governance brings together leading historians, practitioners and policy makers to consider the past, present and future of hospital infection control. Combining historical case-studies with practitioner experiences, this volume offers a new understanding of the emergence of theories of germ transmission and containment and how these theories played out in real-world environments, networks and professional organisations.

Exploring the historical context in which technologies like gloves were developed and popularised, as well as how relationships between communities and hospitals, doctors and nurses, and the emerging role of hospital bacteriologists have shaped infection control practices, the collection emphasises the diverse contexts in which ideas about germs, infection and safety circulated. The volume also addresses the historical neglect of the critical role of nurses in the development and success of infection control measures.

Professor Dame Anne Marie Rafferty CBE is Professor of Nursing Policy at King’s College London and President of the Royal College of Nursing
Marguerite Dupree is Professor Emeritus of Social and Medical History at the University of Glasgow and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge


Fay Bound Alberti is Professor of Modern History and Director of the Centre for Technology and the Body at King’s College London