key terms.
Freedom of infection.
Asepsis.
occurring in two distinct forms.
Dimorphic.
An object such as a book, wooden object, or article of clothing that is not in itself harmful but is able to harbor pathogenic microorganisms, and thus may serve as an agent of transmission of infection.
Fomite
Invasion and multiplication of microorganisms in body tissues that may be clinically inapparent or may result in local cellular injury as a result f competitive metabolism, toxins, intracellular replication or antigen-antibody response.
Infection
Cellular organism that lack a true nuclease
Prokaryotes.
Prokaryotic, ubiquitous, single celled organisms.
Bacteria
Deviations from or interruptions of the normal structure or function of any part, organ, or system of the body that are exhibited by a characteristic set of symptoms and signs and whose cause, pathologic mechanism, and prognosis may be known or unknown.
General term used to denote a group of eukaryotic protists.
Includes mushrooms, yeasts, rust, molds and smuts.
Fungi
Reduction in numbers of infectious agents, which in turn, decrease the probability of infection but does not necessarily reduce it to zero
Medical Asepsis.
Alternative or passive host or carrier that harbors pathogenic organisms without injury to itself, serves as a source to which other can become infected.
Reservoir.
Disease causing microorganisms that may be present in human blood.
blood-born pathogens.
Chemicals used to free an environment from pathogenic organisms.
Disinfectants.
Infection that patients acquire when they are receiving treatment for another healthcare issue
Healtcare-associatted infections. (HAI's.)
Microscopic organisms, includes bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa
Microorganisms.
Procedure used to prevent contamination by microbes and endospores before, during or after surgery using sterile technique.
Treatment of disease by chemical agents.
Chemotherapy.
An animal or plant that harbors or nourishes another organism.
Host.
Pertaining to or originating in the hospital. generally developed 72 hours after hospital admittance.
Nosocomial.
A carrier, especially an animal, that transfers an infective agent from one host to another
Vector.
Stage in the life cycle of certain parasites during which they are enclosed in a protective wall.
Cyst.
Microbial community found on or in a healthy person.
Flora
Security against a particular disease.
Immunity.
Disease-producing microorganisms.
Pathogens.
Any group of minute infectious agents not resolved in the light of the microscope and characterized by a lack of independent metabolism as well as the ability to replicate only within living host cells.