Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 45, November 8, 2024
Section 64-76-3 - Definitions3.1. "Bureau" means the Bureau for Public Health.3.2. "Case" means an occurrence of disease in human or animal which meets a specific case definition listed in the West Virginia Reportable Diseases Protocol Manual or a case definition approved by the Commissioner.3.3. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health.3.4. "Commit" or "commitment" means to place officially in confinement or custody, as in official confinement in a prison, mental hospital or institution.3.5. "Confirmed" means a case that meets the clinical case definition or is laboratory confirmed.3.6. "Contact" means a person who has been exposed to M. tuberculosis infection by sharing air space with a person with infectious tuberculosis.3.7. "Contact Investigation" means procedures that occur when a case of infectious tuberculosis is identified, including finding contacts exposed to the case, testing and evaluation of contacts to identify Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) or tuberculosis disease and treatment of these contacts, as indicated.3.8. "Department" means the Department of Health and Human Resources.3.9. "Division" means the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. 3.10. "Diagnosis of tuberculosis" means a determination of tuberculosis based on:3.10.a. Laboratory criteria for diagnosis: 3.10.a.1. Isolation of M.tuberculosis from a clinical specimen;3.10.a.2. Demonstration of M.tuberculosis from a clinical specimen by nucleic acid amplification test; or3.10.a.3. Demonstration of acid-fast bacilli in a clinical specimen when a culture has not been or cannot be obtained.3.10.b. Clinical case definition: 3.10.b.1. A positive tuberculin skin or another recognized test for tuberculosis infection; 3.10.b.2. Other signs and symptoms compatible with tuberculosis (e.g. an abnormal, unstable [i.e. worsening or improving] chest radiograph, or clinical evidence of current disease);3.10.b.3. Treatment with two or more anti-tuberculosis drugs; and3.10.b.4. A completed diagnostic evaluation.3.11. "Directly Observed Therapy" or "DOT" means an adherence-enhancing strategy in which a health-care worker or other trained person watches a patient swallow each dose of medication and is accountable to the public health system. DOT is the standard method of care for all patients with tuberculosis disease and is an option for patients under treatment for latent infection.3.12. "Health care provider" means any physician, dentist, nurse, paramedic, psychologist or other person providing medical, dental, nursing, psychological or other health care services of any kind.3.13. "Health menace" means a patient who has tuberculosis in an infectious state, is at risk of becoming infectious, or is at risk for drug-resistant tuberculosis as determined by the Commissioner or his or her designee, and is unable or unwilling to conduct himself or herself in such a manner as not to expose others to his or her disease or fails to cooperate in his or her standard tuberculosis treatment.3.14. "Institution" means a hospital, nursing home, clinic or correctional facility responsible for the care and treatment of a patient with tuberculosis.3.15. "Isolation" means the separation of infected persons or animals from other persons or animals, under the necessary time frame and conditions to prevent the direct or indirect transmission of the infectious agent from the infected persons or animals to other persons or animals who are susceptible or who may spread the disease to others.3.16. "Laboratory" means any licensed facility or place, however named, for the biologic, microbiologic, serologic, virologic, chemical, hematologic, immuno-hematologic, biophysical, cytologic, pathologic, genetic, molecular or other examination of materials for the purpose of providing medical or epidemiologic assessment of the health of human beings. The term "laboratory" includes both public and private laboratories, free-standing laboratories and hospital laboratories.3.17. "Medical Evaluation" means an examination to diagnose tuberculosis disease or Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI), to select treatment, and to assess the patient's response to therapy. A medical evaluation may include a medical history and tuberculosis symptom screen, a clinical or physical examination, screening and diagnostic tests (for example: Tuberculin Tests, chest radiographs, bacteriologic examination, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing), counseling, and treatment referrals.3.18. "Medical Information" means data or other information regarding the history, examination, radiologic or laboratory findings, diagnosis, treatment, or other clinical care for a person examined or treated for a suspected or actual disease.3.19. "Non-adherent" means a patient afflicted with tuberculosis who has demonstrated an inability or an unwillingness to adhere to a prescribed treatment regimen, or fails to cooperate in his or her treatment regimen.3.20. "OLS" means the Office of Laboratory Services in the Bureau.3.21. "Patient" means any individual confirmed or suspected of having tuberculosis.3.22. "Physician" means an individual licensed to practice medicine by either the Board of Medicine or the Board of Osteopathy.3.23. "Reporting source" means an institution or provider which diagnoses or provides treatment for tuberculosis.3.24. "School children" or "student" means all children under the age of 25 who attend schools in West Virginia including colleges and universities.3.25. "Tuberculosis" or "TB" means a communicable disease caused by the bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is demonstrated by clinical, bacteriological, radiographic or epidemiological evidence.3.26. "Tuberculosis test" means a medically valid and recognized procedure for testing an individual for the presence of a tuberculosis infection.3.27. "WVEDSS" means the West Virginia Electronic Disease Surveillance System, an electronic data system for reporting and tracking cases and outbreaks of infectious diseases with simultaneous reporting of the disease to the Bureau and local health departments.