Which intervention targets the mode of transmission in infection control?

• A. Decontamination of reservoir
• B. Protective equipment at portal of entry
• C. Vaccination
• D. Hand hygiene

Answer: (D)

Hand hygiene directly interrupts the way pathogens move from one person or object to another. By cleaning hands before and after patient contact, after touching potentially contaminated surfaces, and after removing gloves, you remove or kill microorganisms that could be transmitted to patients or to the environment. That makes it the clearest way to block the transmission route—direct contact and indirect contact via contaminated hands or fomites.

Other interventions target different links in the chain of infection. Decontaminating the reservoir reduces the amount of pathogen present to begin with, which lowers the chance of transmission but doesn’t specifically disrupt the act of transmission itself. Vaccination lowers host susceptibility, so even if exposure occurs, infection is less likely. Protective equipment at the portal of entry helps protect the person from exposure, but it doesn’t directly address the transfer path between people or surfaces in the same broad sense as hand hygiene.