| A | B |
|---|
| microorganism | living thing that cannot be seen with the naked eye |
| normal flora | harmless microorganisms that help the human body to function |
| pathogens | microbes that cause illness |
| antibodies | proteins that help our bodies fight infections |
| MDRO's | multi-drug resistant organisms |
| MRSA | methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus |
| infection | illness caused by a pathogen |
| chain of infection | conditions that allow a condition to spread |
| contaminated | soiled |
| fomite | object that has been soiled (for example: sheets) |
| susceptible hosts | very young or very old |
| Health care-associated infections | infections people get while they are in a health care setting |
| infection control | practices designed to decrease the spread of infections from one person to another |
| sanitization | hand washing; washing counters; washing dishes |
| antisepsis | kills microbes; rubbing alcohol or handsanitizers |
| disinfection | chemicals used to kill pathogens on surfaces that are too strong to be used on the skin |
| sterilization | most thorough method of killing microbes like using an autoclave or soaking something in chemicals |
| hand washing must be used instead of hand sanitizer | when hands are visibly soiled |
| surgical asepsis | all instruments used must be sterile |
| barrier precautions | PPE |
| standard precautions | precautions health care workers use with every patient or resident to protect themselves and others from pathogens transmitted by blood or body fluids |
| transmission-based precautions | isolation precautions used in addition to standard precautions |
| airborne precautions | used when caring for people infected with pathogens that remain infectious when suspended in air |
| droplet precautions | used when caring for people with diseases caused by pathogens that are transmitted by direct exposure to droplets released from the mouth or nose when a person coughs, sneezes, or talks |
| contact precautions | used when caring for people with diseases caused by pathogens that retransmitted by touching the person or fomites |
