Neobook — clinical reference

Antibiogram	A report displaying the sensitivity of a set of microbes to one or more antimicrobials.
Antimicrobial	A substance that may be natural, semi-synthetic or synthetic, which can kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. This includes antibiotics (i.e. antibacterials), antivirals, antifungals, antihelminthics and antiprotozoals.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)	When a microorganism is rendered resistant to one or more antimicrobials used to treat or prevent it.
Diagnostics	The tools used to determine the nature of a disease or condition, or to distinguish one disease or condition from another. Diagnostics may include physical examination, radiological investigations, laboratory tests, or biomarker results.
Diagnostic stewardship	The coordinated intervention to improve and measure the appropriate use of microbial diagnostics to identify pathogens and guide therapeutic decisions by promoting appropriate and timely selection and collection of specimens, accurate and timely testing, and reporting of results.
Hang-time	The time from prescription (be it handwritten or as part of an electronic order) of an intravenous antimicrobial to the time of infusion of said antimicrobial.
Healthcare associated infection (HAI)	An infection that is acquired in a healthcare facility by a healthcare user, healthcare worker or visitor to a healthcare facility. Such an infection should not have been clinically or radiologically apparent at the time of admission or at the time of initial contact with the healthcare facility. The term includes infections that appear after discharge, including any infection in a surgical site up to 30 days after the operation or within one year for implants. This also includes occupational infection amongst facility staff.
Infection prevention and control (IPC)	A systematic approach to prevent infectious diseases and control their spread in the community and to patients and healthcare workers in healthcare establishments. Infection prevention refers to measures, practices, protocols and procedures that are geared towards preventing the transmission of infection within a healthcare setting.
Ministerial Advisory Committee on AMR (MAC-AMR)	The multi-disciplinary, intersectoral committee mandated to advise the Minister of Health on matters relating to AMR; to coordinate intersectoral efforts nationally; provide advocacy and awareness; as well as monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the AMR Strategy Framework.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)	Items specifically used to protect healthcare personnel from exposure to body substances or from droplet or airborne organisms. This includes, but is not limited to gloves, aprons, gowns, caps, face covers, and protective eyewear.
Prescriber	Any person authorised to prescribe medicines in terms of the Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965 (Act no. 101 of 1965) and the Nursing Act, 2005 (Act no. 33 of 2005).
Surveillance	Surveillance is the systematic, longitudinal collection, analysis and interpretation of data, closely integrated with timely dissemination of results to those who require them so that remedial action can be taken. The final phase in the surveillance chain is application of the information to disease control and prevention.
Standard precautions	Standard precautions are a set of infection control practices used to prevent transmission of diseases that can be acquired by contact with blood, body fluids, non-intact skin (including rashes), and mucous membranes. These include hand hygiene, appropriate use of personal protective equipment, patient placement, cleaning patient equipment between patients, clean environment, healthcare waste management, laundry, safe handling of sharps, injection safety, occupational health, and respiratory hygiene.
Transmission-based precautions	Transmission-based precautions are always in addition to standard precautions and are based on the routes of transmission. These include contact, droplet and airborne precautions.