Abbreviations

Abbreviations

A

AAA animal-assisted activity

AAMI Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation

AAT animal-assisted therapy

ACGIH American Council of Governmental Industrial Hygienists

ACH air changes per hour

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act

AER automated endoscope reprocessor

AFB acid-fast bacilli

AHA American Hospital Association

AHJ authorities having jurisdiction

AIA American Institute of Architects

AII airborne infection isolation

AmB amphotericin B

ANC absolute neutrophil count

ANSI American National Standards Institute

AORN Association of periOperative Registered Nurses

ASHE American Society for Healthcare Engineering

ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers

B

BCG Bacille Calmette-Guérin

BCYE buffered charcoal yeast extract medium

BHI brain-heart infusion

BMBL CDC/NIH publication “Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories”

BOD biological oxygen demand

BSE bovine spongiform encephalopathy

BSL biosafety level

C

C Centigrade

CAPD continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

CCPD continual cycling peritoneal dialysis

CMAD count median aerodynamic diameter

CDC U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CFR Code of Federal Regulations

CFU colony-forming unit

CJD Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

cm centimeter

CMS U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

CPL compliance document (OSHA)

CT/EC cooling tower/evaporative condenser

D

DFA direct fluorescence assay; direct fluorescent antibody

DHHS U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

DHBV duck hepatitis B virus

DNA deoxyribonucleic acid

DOP dioctylphthalate

DOT U.S. Department of Transportation

E

EC environment of care (JCAHO)

ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

ESRD end-stage renal disease

EU endotoxin unit

F

F Fahrenheit

FDA U.S. Food and Drug Administration

FIFRA Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

FRC free residual chlorine

ft foot (feet)

FTC U.S. Federal Trade Commission

G

GISA glycopeptide intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus

H

HBV hepatitis B virus

HCV hepatitis C virus

HEPA high efficiency particulate air

HICPAC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee

HIV human immunodeficiency virus

HPV human papilloma virus

HSCT hematopoietic stem cell transplant

HVAC heating, ventilation, air conditioning

I

ICRA infection control risk assessment

ICU intensive care unit

ID 50 50% median infectious dose

IPD intermittent peritoneal dialysis

J

JCAHO Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations

K

kg kilogram

L

L liter

M

MAC Mycobacterium avium complex; also used to denote MacConkey agar

MDRO multiple-drug resistant organism

MIC minimum inhibitory concentration

μm micrometer; micron

mL milliliter

min minute

mg milligram

MMAD mass median aerodynamic diameter

MMWR “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report”

MRSA methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

MSDS material safety data sheet

N

N Normal

NaCl sodium chloride

NaOH sodium hydroxide

NCID National Center for Infectious Diseases

NCCDPHP National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

NCCLS National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards

ng nanogram

NICU neonatal intensive care unit

NIH U.S. National Institutes of Health

NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

nm nanometer

NNIS National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance

NTM nontuberculous mycobacteria

O

OPL on-premises laundry

OSHA U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration

P

Pa Pascal

PCP Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia

PCR polymerase chain reaction

PD peritoneal dialysis

PE protective environment

PEL permissible exposure limit

PPE personal protective equipment

ppm parts per million

PVC polyvinylchloride

R

RAPD randomly amplified polymorphic DNA

RODAC replicate organism direct agar contact

RSV respiratory syncytial virus

RO reverse osmosis

S

SARS severe acute respiratory syndrome

SARS-CoV SARS coronavirus

sec second

spp species

SSI surgical site infection

T

TB tuberculosis

TLV®-TWA threshold limit value-time weighted average

TSA tryptic soy agar

TSB tryptic soy broth

TSE transmissible spongiform encephalopathy

U

U.S. United States

USC United States Code

USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture

USPS U.S. Postal Service

UV ultraviolet

UVGI ultraviolet germicidal irradiation

V

VAV variable air ventilation

vCJD variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

VISA vancomycin intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus

VRE vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus

VRSA vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

v/v volume/volume

VZV varicella-zoster virus

Note

Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are provided as a service to the reader and does not constitute or imply endorsement of these organization s or their programs by CDC or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content of pages found at these sites.