Unit 2: 13.1 Controlling Microbial Growth Flashcards
What are fomites?
Inanimate objects that have microbes and aid in transmission.
-level of cleanliness depends on items use and what it is contaminated with
What are BSLs?
Biological safety levels put in place by the CDC and NIH
What is BSL determined by?
- infectivity
- ease of transmission
- disease severity
- type of work being done with the agent
BSL 1
Agents that generally do not cause infection in healthy human adults. Use PPE as needed
- no pathogenic E. Coli
- B. Subtilis
BSL 2
Pose moderate risk to lab workers, community, indigenous (found in that area). Labs have auto clave
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Salmonella spp
- hepatitis
- mumps
BSL-3
Have potential to cause lethal infections by inhalation. Can be indigenous or exotic (from a foreign location).
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- Bacillus anthracis
- west Nile virus
- HIV
BSL-4
The most dangerous and orders fatal, exotic, easily transmitted by inhalation,no treatments or vaccine
- Ebola virus
- Marburg virus
- smallpox virus
Sterilization
Complete removal/killing of all vegetative cells, endospores, and viruses from item or environment
Sterilants
Kill all microbes and viruses and can kill endospores
Aseptic technique
A combo of protocols that maintain sterility or asepsis
Sepsis
Systematic inflammatory response to an infection
Commercial sterilization (food sterilization)
Uses heat at a temperature low enough to preserve food quality but high enough to kill pathogens that cause food poisoning. Does not completely sterilize
-C. Botulinum
Disinfection
Inactivates microbes on the surface of a finite by using antimicrobial chemicals or heat, microbes can remain so disinfected items are not sterile. Endospores survive when all vegetative cells die
Antiseptics
Antimicrobial chemicals that are safe for skin/living tissue
- hydrogen peroxide
- isopropyl alcohol
Critical items
Must be sterile because they will be used inside the body
- surgical instruments
- catheters
- IV
