Infection control

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, which writes consensus standards for the safe use and processing of medical devices.

A closed pocket of pus in tissue, walled off by the body.

Describes bacteria with a waxy cell wall that keep a red stain even after an acid-alcohol wash, as the germ of tuberculosis does.

Immunity that targets one particular germ or substance and remembers it, built by the B cells and T cells; also called adaptive immunity.

Immunity the body makes for itself, with its own antibodies and memory cells, after an infection or a vaccine; slow to build, it lasts.

Airing out: in sterile processing, the step that removes leftover ethylene oxide gas from items after sterilization.

A microorganism that lives and grows where there is oxygen; an obligate (strict) aerobe cannot grow without it.

Living, growing or happening only where oxygen is present, as an aerobic organism, an aerobic culture or aerobic metabolism.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: the most advanced stage of HIV infection, when the immune system is badly damaged.

One complete replacement of the air in a room; the air exchange rate is the number of times this happens each hour.

A daily test run in an empty dynamic air removal steam sterilizer to show that it pulls all the air out of the chamber and has no leaks.

An infection that spreads through tiny germ-carrying particles that stay floating in the air and can travel some distance.

Infection control steps, used with standard precautions, for germs that spread through tiny particles that stay in the air.

The spread of germs in tiny particles that stay floating in the air and can travel across a room or farther.

A hand sanitizer of 60 to 95 percent alcohol rubbed over the hands until dry, in place of washing when hands are not visibly dirty.

A group of strong antibiotics, mostly given by IV or injection, that kill many gram-negative bacteria.

A microorganism that grows without oxygen; an obligate anaerobe is killed by oxygen, and a facultative one grows with or without it.

A serious infection caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis.

A drug that kills or stops the growth of germs that cause infection.

A drug that kills bacteria or stops them from growing.

The ability of bacteria to survive an antibiotic that used to kill them or stop their growth.

A drug that kills fungi or stops them from growing, used to treat fungal infections.

A drug or substance that kills or slows the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites.

A drug used to treat or prevent HIV infection by stopping the virus from multiplying.

A substance put on the skin or other living tissue to kill germs or slow their growth.

A drug that treats or prevents infection by a virus, usually by stopping the virus from making copies of itself.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, an international organization for infection prevention.

The state of being free of germs that cause disease, and the practices used to keep things that way.

The practices that keep disease-causing germs from reaching a patient, a wound or a sterile item; in surgery, sterile technique.

A machine that pumps detergent, disinfectant and rinse water through every channel of a flexible endoscope on a timed, recorded cycle.

A macrolide antibiotic taken by mouth or IV for infections of the lungs, sinuses, skin and some sexually transmitted infections.

A group of rod-shaped bacteria that can form spores; written in small letters, bacillus means any rod-shaped bacterium.

The gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming bacterium that causes anthrax.

A spore-forming bacterium whose spores are used in biological indicators that test ethylene oxide and dry heat sterilization.

The presence of bacteria in the bloodstream.

An infection caused by bacteria growing in the body.

Able to kill bacteria.

A virus that infects bacteria; also called a phage.

A tiny one-celled living thing, seen only under a microscope, of which some kinds cause disease; the plural is bacteria.

Something that blocks passage, such as gloves that block germs, or anything that gets in the way of care or learning.

Bacille Calmette-Guérin: a live, weakened bacterium used as a tuberculosis vaccine and as a bladder cancer treatment.

The system of giving every living thing a two-part scientific name, its genus and then its species, such as Escherichia coli.

The number of microorganisms on an item before disinfection or sterilization.

A community of microbes stuck to a surface inside a slimy layer they make themselves, as on instruments, catheters, implants or wounds.

A biological material, such as blood, body fluids or used sharps, that can spread infection to people.

A test holding live bacterial spores that are hard to kill, run through a sterilizer and then incubated to show whether the cycle killed them.

A test in which blood is placed in bottles and watched to see whether bacteria or fungi grow from it.

A germ carried in blood that can cause disease in a person exposed to that blood, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV.

An infection in which bacteria or fungi are growing in the blood.

Any liquid made in or found inside the body, such as blood, urine, saliva or fluid inside cells.