Over the past 20 years, infectious disease has moved back up the health agenda, prompting new emphasis on developing strategies for prevention and control, including reduction of spread of infection within the family at home and in their social and work lives outside the home. This paper reviews the various issues that have contributed to this trend. In response to the need for a science-based approach to home hygiene, the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene has developed an approach based on risk management which involves identifying the critical control points for preventing the spread of infectious diseases in the home. If we are to be successful in achieving behaviour change in the community, we need to develop a family-centred approach which ensures an understanding of infectious disease agents and their mechanism of spread.