Term | Definition |
Aerobe | A microorganism that needs oxygen to live & grow |
Anaerobe | A microorganism that grows best in absence of oxygen |
Antiseptic | An agent that inhibits the growth of or kills microorganism |
Asepsis | Free from infection or pathogens; the actions practiced to make & maintain an area or object free from infections or pathogens |
Cilia | Slender, hairlike projections that constantly beat toward the outside to remove microorganisms from the body. |
Contaminate | To soil or to make impure. An anseptic object becomes this when it touches something that is not clean. |
Decontamination | The use of physical or chemical means to remove, inactivate, or destory pathogens on a surface or item to the point where they re no longer cspable of trasmitting infections particles; the surface or item is rendered safe for handling use or disposal |
Hand Hygiene | The process of cleansing or sanitizing the hands |
Infection | The condition in which the body, or part of it, is invaded by a pathogen |
Medical Asepsis | Practices that are employed to reduce the number 7 hinder the transmission of oathogens |
Microorganism | A microscopic plant or animal |
Nonintact Skin | Skin that has a break in the surface. it includes, but is not limited to, abrasions, cuts, hangnails, paper cuts, & burns |
Nonpathogen | A microorganism that does not normally produce disease |
Opportunistic infection | An infection that results from a defectivwe immune system that cannot defend the body from pathogens normally found in the environment |
Optimum growth temperature | The temperature at which an organism grows best |
Parenteral | Taken into the body through the piercing of the skin barrier of mucous membranes, such as through needlesticks,human bites, cuts & abrasions. |
Pathogen | A disease-producing microorganism |
Perinatal | Relating to the period shortly before & after birth. |
PH | The degree to which a solution is acidic or basic |
Postexposure Prophylaxis | Treatment administered to an individual after exposure to an infectious disease to prevent the disease |
Regulated Meical waste | Medical waste that poses a threat to health & safety |
Reservoir Host | The organism that becomes infected by a pathogen & serves as a source of transfer of the pothogen to others |
Resident Flora | Harmless, Nonpathogenic microogranisms that normally reside on the skin & usually do not cause disease; also known as normal flora. |
Susceptible | Easily affected;lacking resistance |
Transient Flora | Microorganism that reside on the superfical skin layers & are picked up in the course of daily activites. they are often pathogenic but can be removed easily from the skin by sanitizing the hands |