Podiatrists are members of the paramedical professions. Training lasts three years, and as of January 1, 2001, there were 9,059 podiatrists practicing in metropolitan France (source: Drees-Adeli). This profession is almost exclusively private practice. According to Article L. 4322-1 of the Public Health Code, podiatrists directly treat skin and nail conditions of the foot, “excluding any procedure that causes bleeding.” Nevertheless, setting aside podiatry activities that involve correcting foot posture defects, it is common for a podiatrist to go beyond the skin surface during treatment and cause the patient to bleed. This procedure then carries a high risk of infection and necessitates the use of single-use medical devices or, failing that, the implementation of high-level sterilization or disinfection. The risk of infection during pedicure treatments has been documented in several studies, notably in the multicenter case-control study "Epic," which identifies pedicure and manicure treatments as a risk factor for hepatitis C virus transmission. As part of its multi-year health safety assessment program, the Regional Health Inspection Service of the Regional Directorate for Health and Social Affairs (DRASS) for the Centre region conducted an exploratory study on a sample of pedicure practices to assess the infection risk associated with this professional activity.