Welcome to the New Journal—Hygiene

It is an honor for me to accept the invitation of the role of Editor-in-Chief of Hygiene (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/hygiene). The new journal (ISSN 2673-947X) was recently created as an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal devoted to the publication of high-quality studies on all the different aspects of hygiene, including general hygiene, healthcare epidemiology, public health, and global and environmental health. Launching a new journal is a considerable task. The first months will be devoted to inviting top researchers, academics and scientists to consider Hygiene as one of “their journals”. The journal is also still looking to further expand the editorial board to address the current gaps and further enrich the journal.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised enormous public attention to all types of measures for the control of communicable diseases. A lot of research has been published already, and will continue to be published, on various aspects of SARS-CoV-2 control. At the same time, however, the global burden of healthcare-associated infections remains. The increase in antibiotic resistance may result in novel concepts to control the transmission of multi-resistant pathogens in various fields. Antiseptic tolerance towards some biocidal agents used for disinfection is increasingly found in selected bacterial species. The scientific community can currently see that it is important to carefully balance the expected health benefits from specific hygiene measure against the expected risks and consequences associated with its implementation. That is why I am glad that “health risk assessments” and “health policy implications” are part of the journal’s scope. I very much hope that this journal can contribute substantial scientific value to the various aspects of hygiene.

The editorial board members and I cordially invite you to share your latest findings by submitting original research, reviews and/or proposals for Special Issues.