Infection control

Describing a disease that is always present at a steady, expected level in a certain area or group.

A serious infection or inflammation inside the eye, a dangerous complication of eye surgery or injury.

A thin tube with a light and a camera that is passed into the body to look inside an organ or cavity.

A tough, dormant form that a few bacteria, mainly Bacillus and Clostridium, make inside the cell to survive harsh conditions.

A poison that is part of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria, the lipid A of lipopolysaccharide, set loose mainly when the cells die.

Wearing a gown and gloves during close, high-contact care of certain nursing home residents to stop the spread of drug-resistant germs.

The hospital department that cleans and decontaminates every area of the facility.

Environmental Protection Agency: the US agency that registers disinfectants; also eicosapentaenoic acid, an omega-3 fat.

A rise in cases of a disease in a community or region well above what is normally expected.

The study of how often diseases happen in groups of people, who gets them, and why.

A common herpes virus that causes infectious mononucleosis.

A rod-shaped bacterium that normally lives in the human intestine, some strains of which cause infection.

A colorless, flammable gas used to make plastics and other chemicals, including ethylene oxide.

A gas used at low temperature to sterilize medical items that heat or moisture would damage.

A living thing whose cells have a true nucleus wrapped in a membrane, and other organelles: animals, plants, fungi, protozoa and algae.

The rule that a sterile package stays sterile until something happens to it, such as a tear or moisture, rather than until a date passes.

A protein poison that living bacteria make and release, often deadly in tiny amounts, such as the toxins of tetanus and botulism.

In sterilization, how long the load is held at the set conditions so it is sterilized; also how long an item must stay wet with a disinfectant.

Goggles or a face shield worn to keep blood, body fluids or other splashes out of the eyes.