For the purposes of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
CARRIER. A person who, without symptoms of a communicable disease, harbors and spreads the infectious agent of that disease.
CLEANSING. The removal, by scrubbing and washing, of organic matter on which microorganisms may find favorable conditions for prolonging their lives and virulence, also the removal by the same means of microorganisms adherent to surfaces.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES. Diseases which are communicable through the conveyance of the infectious agent of the disease, directly or indirectly.
CONCURRENT DISINFECTION. The immediate disinfection or destruction of all infected or presumably infected articles.
CONTACT. A person has been sufficiently near an infected person or animal to make possible the transmission of the infectious agent to him or her, directly or by articles freshly soiled with the infectious agent.
CULTURES. Growths of microorganisms in or upon artificial media. The material for CULTURES is obtained from body fluids, secretions or excreta and is used for the purpose of determining the presence of the infectious agent.
DISINFECTION. The process of destroying the vitality of the disease-producing organisms by physical or chemical means.
IMMUNES. Those persons who, because of having had the disease or by artificial methods, have been made relatively insusceptible to the disease.
INCUBATION PERIOD. The period of a communicable disease between the implanting of an infectious disease and its characteristic manifestations.
INFECTIOUS AGENT. A living microorganism or filterable virus capable under favorable conditions of inciting a communicable disease.
ISOLATION. The separation of persons suffering from a communicable disease, or carriers of the infectious organism, from persons in those places and under those conditions as will prevent the direct or indirect conveyance of the infectious agent to susceptible persons.
PERIOD OF COMMUNICABILITY. The time during which a person affected with a communicable disease is capable of transmitting the infectious agent to others.
QUARANTINE. The confining of persons, animals, or materials within a designated area and excluding other persons, animals or materials from that area for a prescribed period of time as determined by the health officer.
RENOVATION. In addition to cleansing, the treatment of the walls, floors and ceilings of rooms or houses which may be necessary to place the premises in a satisfactory sanitary condition.
TERMINAL DISINFECTION. The measures taken to destroy or remove infectious material after the removal of the patient or termination of the isolation at the time when the patient is no longer a source of infection.
(1957 Rev. Ords., § 7.401; 1992 Code, § 19-80)
Cross-reference:
Definitions and rules of construction generally, see § 10.002