Biological agent
Micro-organism, cell culture or endoparasite can cause infection, allergy or poisoning depending on the context.
Understanding in context →UnderstandingThe meaning of words
Glossary of biological risks
35 short definitions for reading a bulletin, laboratory result or prevention sheet. Each term refers to a file and its documentary reference.
35 definitions
Antibiogram
Review of the sensitivity of a bacterium to antibiotics to contribute to the therapeutic choice with the clinical context.
Understanding in context →Antibioresistance
Ability of bacteria to resist antibiotics. It's the micro-organism that becomes resistant, not the person.
Understanding in context →Antibiotic
Medicinal product for certain bacterial infections. It does not treat a viral infection; its indication is a medical evaluation.
Understanding in context →Antifungal
Medicinal product targeting mushrooms. Identification of the agent is not sufficient to choose a treatment without the clinical context.
Understanding in context →Antimicrobial
Family of drugs for micro-organisms: antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals or antiparasitic medicines. The term does not refer to a single treatment.
Understanding in context →Antiviral
Medicinal product targeting a virus in specific indications. An antiviral is not interchangeable with an antibiotic.
Understanding in context →Colonization or porting
Presence of a micro-organism without disease. The clinical context determines the scope of a positive sample.
Understanding in context →Contamination
Presence of an agent on a surface, object, food or body. It does not necessarily describe a disease.
Understanding in context →Cross-contamination
Transfer of microorganisms from one food, hand or material to another food. Separating raw and ready to eat helps to interrupt these journeys.
Understanding in context →Hazard
Ability of an agent or situation to cause harm. The hazard alone does not measure a real exposure.
Understanding in context →Definition of cases
Surveillance criteria for counting cases consistently within a period and territory. If the definition changes between publications, note this break before comparing their figures. The same word in a title does not establish that the same criteria were used.
Understanding in context →Epidemic
Number of cases exceeding what is expected for a given population, territory and period.
Understanding in context →Exposure
Contact with an agent by a relevant route: inhalation, ingestion, wound or mucous membrane, among others. She doesn't prove an infection.
Understanding in context →Diagnostic window
Period when an infection may not yet be detectable by the chosen test. A recent negative has limits.
Understanding in context →Impact
New cases occurring during a period in a defined population. The denominator and duration are essential for comparison. When reading a table, record new cases, the population concerned and observation time together. A figure without a period cannot properly compare two territories or years.
Understanding in context →Infection
Entry and development of an infectious agent in an organism. She can stay symptomless.
Understanding in context →Isolation
Separation or limitation of contacts of an infected person to reduce transmissions during the relevant period.
Understanding in context →Lethality
Share of defined cases that die of the disease. It depends on the identification of cases and the duration of follow-up.
Understanding in context →Mortality
Deaths reported to a population and a period. It does not share the denominator of lethality.
Understanding in context →PCR
Technique amplifying a genetic target. Detecting this target does not alone demonstrate the presence of an agent still transmissible.
Understanding in context →Prevalence
Share of a population affected by a state at a specified time or period. It does not only count new cases.
Understanding in context →Tank
A medium or host where an agent maintains itself. The reservoir and the immediate source of exposure may differ.
Understanding in context →Risk
Possibility of damage in a given context, to be assessed with existing exposures, gravity and measurements.
Understanding in context →Laboratory biological safety
Practices, equipment and containment to prevent accidental exposures and releases.
Understanding in context →Diagnostic sensitivity
Ability of a test to identify the persons concerned by the state sought, under the conditions of its assessment.
Understanding in context →Sepsis
Organ dysfunction associated with a deregulated response to infection. It is a medical emergency.
Understanding in context →Serology
Search for blood markers, including antibodies. It is not interchangeable with direct detection of the agent.
Understanding in context →Signal
Information to be examined who may indicate a health event. A signal does not automatically constitute a confirmed alert.
Understanding in context →Diagnostic specificity
Ability of a test to give a negative result in people without the desired condition. It is not enough to interpret an individual result.
Understanding in context →Biological safety
Protection of biological materials and information against unauthorized access, theft, diversion or malicious use.
Understanding in context →Health surveillance
Regular collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of information to guide public health action.
Understanding in context →Antigenic test
Search for components of an agent. Its result depends in particular on the sampling and the time of realization.
Understanding in context →Vector
Organism, often an arthropod, that participates in the transmission of an agent. A present mosquito is not necessarily infected.
Understanding in context →Zoonosis
Naturally transmitted disease or infection between vertebrate and human animals. Tracks differ depending on the agent.
Understanding in context →Use a definition with its context
A surveillance definition is used to compare data; it does not replace the criteria for an individual diagnosis. Translations of biosafety and biosecurity vary: the scope described counts more than the single word "biosecurity".