Common Terms and Phrases

Pathogen – a bacterium, virus, parasite or other small organism that can cause disease; a germ.

Sanitizing – decreasing the number of bacteria on a surface to levels considered safe by public health codes or regulations.

Disinfecting – killing or eliminating germs from surfaces; kills more germs than sanitizing.

Contact time – length of time a disinfectant must remain wet on a surface, without being wiped away or evaporating, to effectively kill germs.

Fomite - objects or materials which may have pathogens on them, such as cell phones, clothes, doorknobs, and utensils.

Incubation period – a period of time between exposure to a pathogen and the onset of symptoms of the associated disease.

Route of transmission – how a pathogen spreads. Some examples include:

• Airborne – transmission occurs when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks and generates very small respiratory particles containing viruses or bacteria. These small particles remain suspended in the air for long periods and can be widely dispersed by air currents. This is very rare. (Such as measles, TB)
• Bloodborne – bodily fluids of an infected person enter the bloodstream of another person (example - Hepatitis B)
• Direct contact – transfer of a pathogen to a person by direct contact with another person or their droplets, such as skin-to-skin, kissing, sexual intercourse, or contact with infected vegetation or soil (examples - chicken pox, head lice, scabies, MRSA)
• Droplet – spread by droplets containing viruses or bacteria or by touching surfaces contaminated with nose/throat secretions from infected persons. Droplets are generated during coughing, sneezing, or talking. These “large” droplets generally travel less than three feet before falling to the ground and do not remain suspended in the air. (Such as influenza, common cold, pertussis, strep throat)
• Fecal-oral – the spread of pathogens from the infected stool of one person or animal into the mouth of another; may occur via fecal contamination of food or water supply, or by hand-to-mouth transmission following inadequate handwashing after touching contaminated objects such as doorknobs and phones(examples - salmonella, STEC, norovirus)
• Indirect contact – spread occurs when there is no direct human-to-human contact; contact occurs from a contaminated surface or object, also known as a fomite.