DH theory

an artificially generated collection of particles suspended in air

suspension of particles in the air that consists partially or wholly of microorganisms; it may be capable of causing an infection.

diminished reactivity to specific antigens; inability to react to skin test antigen (even if person is infected with the organism tested) because of immunosuppression.

a soluble protein molecule produced and secreted by body cells in response to an antigen; it is capable of binding to that specific antigen.

a substance that is capable under appropriate conditions, of inducing a specific immune response and of reacting with the products of that response, that is, with the specific antibody.

a person who harbors a specific infectious agent in the absence of discernable clinical disease and serves as potential source of infection. The carrier state may be temporary, transient, or chronic

an individual who harbors pathogenic organisms without clinically recognizable symptoms; a carrier may infect those they contact

United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health service

Colony forming unit

the time during which an infectious agent may be transferred directly or indirectly from an infected person to another person; the communicable period may include or overlap the incubation period.

diminutive drop, such as the paricles of moisture expelled while coughing, sneezing, or speaking, that may carry infectious agents

an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; a laboratory test to detect antibody within the blood serum

a laboratory test for antibody that is more specific than EIA and is used to validate seropositive reactions to the EIA

the constant presence of a disease or infectious agent within a geographic area.

widespread occurrence of cases of an illness in a community or region; greater than the expected number or cases for the particular population

a inanimate object or material on which disease-producin agents (microorganisms) may be conveyed

healthcare personnel; DHCP: dental healthcare personnel

an infection associated with or acquired during a medical or surgical intervention; replaces nosocomial, which is limited to an adverse infectious outcome occurring in a hospital

the resistance that a person has against disease; it may be natural or acquired

short-duration immunity either naturally attained by transplacental transfer from the mother or artificially acquired by inoculation of specific protective antibodies

immunity either naturally attained by infection, with or without clinical manifestations, or artificially acquired by inoculation of the afent in a killed modified, or variant form; in response, the body produces its own antibodies; usually lasts for years

the time interval between the initial contact with an infectious agent and the appearance of the first clinical sign or symptom of the disease.

a state caused by the invasion, development, or multiplication of an infectious agent into the body

first time; no preexisting antibodies

persistent infection following a primary infection in which the causative agent remains inactive within certain cells

symptomatic reactivation of a latent infection

organism capable of producing an infection

yellowness of skin, sclerae, mucous membranes, and excretions due to hyperbilirubinemia and deposition of bile pigments. aslo called icterus

the microscopic living organisms of a region

widespread epidemic usually affecting the population of an extensive region, several countries, or intravenous

injection by a route other than the alimentary tract, suh as subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous

inflammation of the parotid gland

a virus, mocroorganism, or other substance that causes disease

capable of causing disease only when the host's resistane is lowered

by way of, or through, the skin

by way of, or through, a mucous membrane.

protein particle lacking nucleic acid that has been implicated as the cause of certain neruodegenerative diseases; an example is Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease.

early or premonitory symptom

process by which viruses reproduce and multiply

virus with RNA as its core genetic material; requires the enzyme reverse transcriptase to convert its RNA to proviral DNA

the identification of a disease by serum markers of that specific condition

after exposure to the etiologc agent of a disease, the blood changes from negative (seronegative) to positive (seropositive) for the serum marker for that disease; the time interval for conversion is specific for each disease

a spcific finding (such as antibody or antigen) by laboratory blood analysis that identifies an existing disease state.

presence of virus in body secretions, in excretions, or in body surface lesions with potential for transmission.

an approach to infection control to protect DHCP and patients from pathogens that can be spread by blood or any other bdy fluid, secretion, or excretion (except sweat), regardless of whether they contain blood.

sexually transmitted disease

continuing scrutiny of all aspects of occurrence and spread of a diseae that are pertinent to effective control

host not possesing resistance against an infectious agent

passage of an infectious afent from one individual to another

passage of an infectious agent from one generation to another by breast milk or across the placenta

an approach to infection control in which all human blood and certain human bodted as if known to be infectious for HIV, HBV, and other blood-borne pathogens

a carrier that transfers an infectious microorganism from one host to another

an arthropod, insect, or other living carrier in whose body the infecting organism multiplies before becoming infective to the recipient

a substanc or object that serves as an intermediate means by which an infectious agent is transported and introduced into a susceptible host through a suitable portal of entry

complete virus particle made up of the nucleoid (the genetic material) and capsid (the shell of protein that protects the nucleoid).

the degree of pathogenicity or disease-evoking power of an infectious agent.

a subcellular genetic entity capable of gaining entrance into a limited range of living cells and capable of replication only within such cells; it contains either DNA or RNA, but not both.

the time between exposure resulting in infection and the presence of detectable serum antibody; antibody test is negative but infectious agent is transmissible during the window period.