| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Asepsis | practices that minimize or eliminate microbes that cause infections or disease |
| Infection | The infection and proliferation of microbes in body tissues with a resultant reaction to their presence and/or their toxins |
| primary infection | the first or original disease or infection |
| Secondary infection | pathogen(infection) that only invades a person with a lower resistance usually caused by a primary infection |
| latent infection | a stage of disease in which there are no symptoms |
| Contamination | anything that is not sterile; to make unclean |
| Disinfectant | substances which destroys most pathogens(infections) but not their spores. Used for dirty surfaces. |
| Sterilization | process that destroys all microbes including spores. (Autoclaving) |
| Antiseptic | substance that inhibits the growth of microbes without destroying them. Used on clean surfaces. |
| Pathogenic | micro-organisms that can cause infectious diseases. |
| Isolation | state of being separated from others due to infectious disease |
| Germicide | an agent that kills germs especially pathogenic ones |
| Culture | The study of microbes growth or the growth of microbes in special media conducive to their growth |
| Communicable disease | a disease whose causative agents may pass or be carried from one person to another directly or indirectly |
| Inflammation | A localized protective response elicited by injury or destruction of tissues, which serves to destroy, dilute, or wall off both the injurious agent and the injured tissue. Pain, redness, heat, and swelling are included. |
| Concurrent disinfection | continuous decontamination of an area while an individual with infection is present. |
| Terminal disinfection | disinfection of a sick room and its contents at termination of an infectious disease |
| Virulence | pathogens strength to cause disease |
| Vector | a living carrier of a pathogen |
| Reservoir | any place where microbes can survive before moving to a place where they can multiply |
| Contagious | capable of being transmitted from one individual to another quickly and easily |
| Epidemic | occurring suddenly in numbers clearly in excess of normal expectancy. |
| Center for Disease (CDC) | an agency of the US department of health and human services. they study infectious diseases and how to control them |
| inanimate objects | non-living objects. |
| Incubation period | the interval of time required for development, especially the time between invasion of the body by a pathogenic organism and appearance of the first symptoms of disease. |
| Prodromal | a symptom indicating the onset of a disease; disease progressing. |
| Convalescence stage | the stage of recovery from an illness,operation, or injury. |
| Nosocomial | pertaining to or originating in a hospital; hospital acquired infection. |
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