New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter I - State Sanitary Code › Part 2 - Communicable Diseases › Designation of Cases › Section 2.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
Definitions shall include the following:
(a) For public health reporting purposes,
				  hospital-associated infections shall include an outbreak or increased incidence
				  of disease due to microbiological agents or their toxic products occurring in
				  patients or persons working in the hospital. Any non-reportable
				  hospital-associated infections must be handled nonetheless by hospitals and
				  their infection control committees.
(b) A case is defined as a person who has
				  been diagnosed to have a particular disease or condition. The diagnosis may be
				  based solely on clinical judgment or solely on laboratory evidence, or on both
				  criteria.
(c) A suspected case is
				  defined as a person who has been diagnosed as likely to have a particular
				  disease or condition. The suspected diagnosis may be based solely on signs and
				  symptoms, or solely on laboratory evidence, or both criteria.
(d) An outbreak is defined as an increased
				  incidence of disease above its expected or baseline level. As the number of
				  cases which indicate the presence of an outbreak vary according to the
				  infectious agent, size and type of population exposed, previous exposure or
				  lack of exposure to the disease, and time and place of occurrence, the expected
				  or baseline level of disease shall be assessed by hospitals and their infection
				  control committees as directed in section
				  405.11  of this
				  Title. While an outbreak usually involves several cases of illness (e.g.,
				  food-borne poisoning, influenza), it may consist of just one case for certain
				  rare and/or serious diseases (e.g., botulism, measles).
(e) As used in this Part, local health
				  authority is defined as the health officer of a county, part-county, city,
				  town, village, consolidated health district, or any county or public health
				  director having all the powers and duties prescribed in section 352  of the Public Health Law.
(f) As used in this Part, the term approved
				  laboratory or laboratory approved for the examination shall mean, as the case
				  may be, a laboratory possessing either a certificate of approval for the
				  specified examination issued by the State Commissioner of Health under the
				  authority of title 1 of article 5 of the Public Health Law or a permit for the
				  specified examination issued by said commissioner under the authority of title
				  5 of said article.
(g) As used in
				  this Part, the term vaccinia disease shall mean:
(1) persons with vaccinia infection due to
				  contact transmission; and
(2)
				  persons with the following complications from vaccination: eczema vaccinatum,
				  erythema multiforme major or Stevens-Johnson syndrome, fetal vaccinia,
				  generalized vaccinia, inadvertent inoculation, ocular vaccinia, post-vaccinial
				  encephalitis or encephalomyelitis, progressive vaccinia, pyogenic infection of
				  the vaccination site, and any other serious adverse events (i.e., those
				  resulting in hospitalization, permanent disability, life-threatening illness or
				  death).