Infection Control for New York Health Care Professional ‒ 2024 Update ________________________________
Susceptible host : A person or animal not possessing sufficient resistance to a particular infectious agent to prevent contracting infection or disease when exposed to the agent. Transmission : Any mechanism by which a pathogen is spread by a source or reservoir to a person. Common vehicle: Contam- inated material, product, or substance that serves as a means of transmission of an infectious agent from a reservoir to one or more susceptible hosts through a suitable portal of entry. ELEMENT III GLOSSARY Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) : Infections associated with healthcare delivery in any setting (e.g., hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory settings, home care). Engineering Controls : Controls (e.g., sharps disposal con- tainers, self-sheathing needles, safer medical devices, such as sharps with engineered sharps injury protections and needle- less systems) that isolate or remove the bloodborne pathogens hazard from the workplace. Injection safety (or safe injection practices) : A set of measures taken to perform injections in an optimally safe manner for patients, healthcare personnel, and others. A safe injection does not harm the recipient, does not expose the provider to any avoidable risks and does not result in waste that is danger- ous for the community. Injection safety includes practices intended to prevent trans- mission of bloodborne pathogens between one patient and another, or between a healthcare worker and a patient, and also to prevent harms such as needlestick injuries. Single-use medication vial : A bottle of liquid medication that is given to a patient through a needle and syringe. Single-use vials contain only one dose of medication and should only be used once for one patient, using a new sterile needle and new sterile syringe. Multi-dose medication vial : bottle of liquid medication that contains more than one dose of medication and is often used by diabetic patients or for vaccinations . Work Practice Controls : Controls that reduce the likelihood of exposure to bloodborne pathogens by altering the manner in which a task is performed ( e.g., prohibiting recapping of needles by a two-handed technique). ELEMENT IV GLOSSARY Barriers: Equipment such as gloves, gowns, aprons, masks, or protective eyewear, which when worn, can reduce the risk of exposure of the health care worker’s skin or mucous mem- branes to potentially infective materials. Personal protective equipment (PPE ): Specialized clothing or equipment worn by an employee for protection against a hazard.
ELEMENT V GLOSSARY Contamination : The presence of microorganisms on an item or surface. Cleaning: The process of removing all foreign material (i.e., dirt, body fluids, lubricants from objects by using water and detergents or soaps and washing or scrubbing the object. Critical device : An item that enters sterile tissue or the vascular system (e.g. intravenous catheters, needles for injections). These must be sterile prior to contact with tissue. Decontamination : The use of physical or chemical means to remove, inactivate, or destroy bloodborne pathogens on a surface or item to the point where they are no longer capable of transmitting infectious particles. Disinfection : The use of a chemical procedure that eliminates virtually all recognized pathogenic microorganisms but not necessarily all microbial forms (e.g., bacterial endospores) on inanimate objects. High level disinfection : Disinfection that kills all organisms, except high levels of bacterial spores, and is effected with a chemical germicide cleared for marketing as a sterilant by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Intermediate level disinfection : Disinfection that kills myco- bacteria, most viruses, and bacteria with a chemical germicide registered as a “tuberculocide” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Low level disinfection : Disinfection that kills some viruses and bacteria with a chemical germicide registered as a hospital disinfectant by the EPA. Noncritical device : An item that contacts intact skin but not mucous membranes (e.g., blood pressure cuffs, oximeters). It requires low level disinfection. Semi critical device : An item that comes in contact with mucous membranes or non-intact skin and minimally requires high level disinfection (e.g., oral thermometers, vaginal specula). Sterilization : The use of a physical or chemical procedure to destroy all microbial life, including highly resistant bacterial endospores. ELEMENT VI GLOSSARY Infectious Disease : A clinically manifest disease of humans or animals resulting from an infection. Communicable Disease : An illness due to a specific infectious agent or its toxic products that arises through transmission of that agent from an infected person, animal, or inanimate source to a susceptible host.
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