Section 22-B299. DEFINITIONS

 

299.1When used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed:

 

ACIP - the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC.

 

Act  - An Act to authorize the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to make regulations to prevent and control the spread of communicable and preventable diseases, approved August 11, 1939 (53 Stat. 1408 ch. 691; D.C. Official Code § 7-131 et seq. (2001 ed.)), as amended.

 

Cancer - any malignant disease that is listed in the 9th Edition of the "International Classification of Disease-Oncology" published by the World Health Organization, except benign neoplasms and basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, and each form of in situ carcinoma of the cervix uteri including codes from the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) and the International Classification of Disease for Oncology, Second Edition (ICD-O-2).

 

Carrier - a person or animal harboring in his or her or its body the specific infectious agent of a communicable disease without manifest symptoms and being a potential source or reservoir of infection for man.

 

CDC—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal agency responsible for protecting America from threats to health, safety, and security, whether foreign or domestic.

 

Cleansing - the removal of infectious agents and the organic materials on which or in which infectious agents may find favorable conditions for prolonging life and virulence. Cleansing is accomplished by washing or scrubbing with hot water and a suitable detergent, by thorough airing and drying, and by exposure to sunlight.

 

Communicable disease - any disease denominated a communicable disease, including without limitation any illness due to an infectious agent or its toxic product, which is transmitted directly or indirectly to a well person from an infected person, animal, or ectoparasite; or any illness due to an infectious agent or its toxic product which is transmitted through the agency of an intermediate host, vector, or by exposure within the immediate environment. Communicable disease also shall mean any disease occurring as an outbreak of illness or toxic conditions, regardless of etiology in an institution or other identifiable group of people.

 

Contact - any person or animal that has associated with a person or animal infected by a communicable disease, or with an object contaminated by the infectious agent of a communicable disease, in a manner that would provide the person or animal the opportunity of acquiring the disease.

 

Department - District of Columbia Department of Health.

 

Director - Director, District of Columbia Department of Health.

 

Disinfection - the process of destroying the vitality of a disease-producing agent outside the body of a person or animal.

 

Foodborne disease outbreak—an incident in which two or more persons experience a similar illness resulting from ingestion of a common food.

 

Health care associated infection (HAI)—an infection that develops in a patient or resident in a healthcare facility that was not present or incubating at the time of admission.

 

Health care associated infection outbreak (HAI outbreak)—the occurrence of more cases of infections than expected in a given healthcare facility area among a specific group of people over a particular period of time, or when the number of infections in a healthcare facility is higher than the baseline rate for that facility.

 

Health Care Facility - A clinic, freestanding ambulatory care facility, freestanding laboratory, hospital, nursing home, or therapeutic radiological center.

 

Health care provider or provider - a health care clinic, a physician, a health maintenance organization, a nurse, a hospital, a charitable organization that provides medical care or advice, or any other entity that provides medical care or advice.

 

HBIG - hepatitis B immunoglobulin.

 

HBsAb - a serological laboratory test marker indicating immunity to Hepatitis B infection.

 

HBsAg - a serological laboratory test marker indicating infection with the Hepatitis B virus.

 

Infectious agent—a disease-causing organism (e.g. prion, virus, bacterium, fungus, or parasite).

 

Invasive—isolated from blood, bone, cerebrospinal fluid, joint, pericardial, peritoneal, or pleural fluid.

 

Isolation - the separation of infected persons or animals, or persons or animals suspected of being infected, from other persons or animals for the period of communicability of the particular communicable disease. The separation shall be in places and under conditions that will prevent the direct or indirect conveyance of the infectious agent from the infected persons or animals to susceptible persons or animals, or to persons or animals who may spread the infectious agent to others.

 

Mayor - the Mayor of the District of Columbia, or the Mayor's designated agent.

 

National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)—a secure internet-based surveillance system that houses national healthcare-associated infection data and is managed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion.

 

Newborn - an infant born in the District who is under 4 weeks of age.

 

Novel influenza A - a virus subtype that is different from currently circulating human influenza H1 and H3 viruses. Novel subtypes include H2, H5, H7, and H9. Influenza H1 and H3 subtypes originating from non-human species or from genetic reassortment between animal and human viruses are also novel subtypes.

 

Outbreak - the occurrence of an illness of public health importance, when the occurrence is in unusual numbers or under unusual circumstances.

 

Perinatal - the period before, during, and after the time of birth from the twenty-eighth (28th) week of gestation through the first seven (7) days after delivery.

 

Quarantine - the limitation of freedom of movement of well persons or animals that have been exposed to, or are suspected of having been exposed to, a communicable disease for a period of time equal to the longest usual incubation period of the disease in a manner that will prevent effective contact with those who are not exposed. Quarantine also shall mean the necessary restriction of the use of any premises suspected of contamination by communicable disease agents.

 

Restriction of movement - the limitation of freedom of movement of an infected person or animal, or a person or animal suspected of being infected, in the person's or animal's association with others not known to be immune to the communicable disease with which the person or animal is infected, or suspected of being infected.

 

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS - a contagious viral illness that spreads person-to-person by close proximity to an infected person. A suspect case may be identified by onset since February 1, 2003, of a temperature above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (100.4° F); one or more findings of respiratory illness including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or hypoxia; and travel within ten (10) days of onset of symptoms to an area where there is current, documented community transmission of SARS or close contact within ten (10) days of onset of symptoms with a person known or suspected to have SARS. A probable case may be identified by the above findings plus radiographic evidence of pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome, or autopsy findings consistent with pneumonia or respiratory distress syndrome without an identifiable cause.

 

Susceptible - a person or animal presumably not possessing resistance against a particular infectious agent.

 

Suspect - a person or animal whose medical history, symptoms, or laboratory findings suggest that the person or animal may have or may be developing some communicable disease.

 

Turtle - any animal of the order Testudinata (Chelonia), class Reptilia, having a carapace length of less than four inches (4"), including those commonly known as turtles, tortoises, and terrapins, except marine species (families Dermochildae and Cheloniidae).

 

Vancomycin-intermediate staphylococcus aureus (VISA) - a bacterium that is intermediate to vancomycin as per current CDC guidelines.

 

Vancomycin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) - a bacterium that is resistant to vancomycin as per current CDC guidelines.

 

 

authority

Section 1 of An Act to authorize the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to make regulations to prevent and control the spread of communicable and preventable diseases ("Act"), approved August 11, 1939 (53 Stat. 1408, ch. 601, § 1; D.C. Official Code § 7-131 (2012 Repl.)), and § 2 of Mayor's Order 98-141, dated August 20, 1998.

source

Commissioners’ Order 61-1117 (June 20, 1961), published as Health Regulations at §§ 8-5:101-205; as amended by § 7 of the Preventive Health Services Amendments Act of 1985, effective February 21, 1986 (D.C. Law 6-83; 32 DCR 7276, 7285 (December 13, 1985)); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 42 DCR 6379, 6382 (November 17, 1995); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 3493 (May 19, 2000); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 50 DCR 6169 (August 1, 2003); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 55 DCR 59979 (May 23, 2008); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 56 DCR 848, 849 (January 23, 2009); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 61 DCR 4939 (May 16, 2014); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 15116 (December 9, 2016).