§693.10. Definitions

"Act" means Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act [410 ILCS 325].

 

"Blood Bank" means any facility or location at which blood or plasma is procured, furnished, donated, processed, stored or distributed.

 

"Certified Local Health Department" means a local health department that is certified pursuant to 77 Ill. Adm. Code 600.210 of the Certified Local Health Department Code.

 

"Contact" means:

 

An individual who has been in direct sexual contact with an individual infected with a sexually transmitted infection (STI);

 

An individual who has been in direct sexual or needle contact with a person with AIDS or HIV infection;

 

An individual who has undergone artificial insemination, a blood transfusion or an organ or tissue transplantation donated by a person with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

 

"Critical Period" means the time interval for which an individual infected with an STI is asked to recall sexual or needle-sharing contacts. Ideally, the critical period covers the time from the earliest date an individual could have been infected with an STI up to the date of diagnosis or treatment.

 

The critical period for syphilis is based on the disease stage at the time of diagnosis:

 

Primary − four months and one week;

 

Secondary − eight months (34 weeks);

 

Early non-primary non-secondary (NPNS) – 12 months, unless a credible primary or secondary history can be established.

 

The critical period for chlamydia, gonorrhea and chancroid is 60 days before the date of specimen collection and should be extended through the date of      treatment if the patient was not treated at the time the specimen was collected.

 

The critical period for HIV is 12 months before the date of diagnosis.

 

"Department" means the Illinois Department of Public Health. (Section 3 of the Act)

 

"Designated Agent" means an organization designated by the Department, or a local health department in cities with a population of 1,000,000 or more, to conduct public health activities under a written agreement with the Department.

 

"Epidemiologic Information" means information, obtained through the counseling and partner services process, regarding possible exposure to an STI.

 

"Expedited Partner Therapy" means to prescribe, dispense, furnish or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to the partner or partners of persons clinically diagnosed as infected with a sexually transmissible infection, without physical examination of the partner or partners.

 

"Exposure-Prone Invasive Procedure" means an invasive procedure involving digital palpation of a needle tip in a body cavity, or the simultaneous presence of a health care professional's fingers and a needle or other sharp instrument or object in a poorly visualized or highly confined anatomical site.

 

"Health Care Contact" means any the following:

 

An individual who has undergone exposure-prone invasive procedures performed by an HIV infected health care professional when the Department has determined that there is or may have been potential risk of HIV transmission from the health care professional to that individual;

 

A health care professional who has performed exposure-prone invasive procedures for a person infected with HIV when the Department has determined that there is or may have been potential risk of HIV transmission from the infected person to the health care professional.  (Section 5.5(c) of the Act)

 

"Health Care Facility" means any institution, building or agency or portion of any institution, building or agency, whether public or private (for-profit or nonprofit), that is used, operated or designed to provide health services, medical treatment or nursing, rehabilitative or preventive care to any person or persons.

 

"Health Care Professional" means any of the following:

 

A physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches;

 

a licensed physician assistant;

 

a licensed advanced practice registered nurse; [410 ILCS 325/3(4)]

 

a licensed dentist;

 

a licensed podiatrist;

 

a licensed nurse or other person licensed or certified to provide health care services of any kind; or

 

an individual certified to provide HIV testing and counseling by a state or local public health department.

 

"HIV Infection" means infected with HIV, as evidenced by a positive or reactive supplemental laboratory test result.

 

"HIV Test" means an HIV test method approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or validated under a laboratory's Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) certification.

 

"Invasive Procedure" means surgical entry into tissues, cavities or organs or repair of major traumatic injuries associated with any of the following:

 

An operating or delivery room, emergency department, or outpatient setting, including both physicians' and dentists' offices;

 

Cardiac catheterizations and angiographic procedures;

 

Vaginal or cesarean delivery or other invasive obstetrical procedure during which bleeding may occur; or

 

Manipulation or excision of any oral or perioral tissue, including tooth structure, during which bleeding or the potential for bleeding exists.

 

"Isolation" means the physical separation and confinement of an individual who is infected or reasonably believed to be infected with an STI from non-isolated individuals to prevent the transmission of the STI to non-isolated individuals.

 

"Laboratory" means a CLIA-approved or -licensed facility, other than a blood bank, at which tests are performed to determine the presence of infection with an STI.

 

"Local Health Department" means the full-time official health department or board of health having jurisdiction over a particular area. (Section 3 of the Act)

 

"Noncompliant" means that a person who is infected with an STI and is aware of his/her infection and is engaging in behaviors or activities that place others at risk of exposure to the STI.

 

"Partner Services" means services offered to persons diagnosed with HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia and to their partners.  These services include, but are not limited to, interviewing infected individuals to elicit and subsequently notify sex and needle sharing partners of possible exposure or potential risk of exposure to infection, facilitating testing and treatment of exposed partners, and providing referrals to support services as needed.

 

"Quarantine" means the act of making a place or a location off limits to the public to prevent the probable spread of syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV or chancroid. (Section 7(a) of the Act)

 

"Self-Refer" means for a person infected with an STI to notify his/her contacts of their possible exposure to an STI and to refer contacts to appropriate health care professionals for counseling, testing and treatment, if indicated.

 

"Sexually Transmissible Infection" or "STI" means, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an infection that can be acquired or transmitted through sexual activity.

 

"Susceptible" means capable of becoming infected with the etiologic agent of an STI.

 

"Suspected Case" means a person who is reasonably believed to be infected with an STI, based on medical or epidemiologic information.

 

"Treatment" means services for prevention, diagnosis and medical management of STIs, including examination, laboratory testing, medication, counseling and immunization.

 

(Source:  Amended at 46 Ill. Reg. 20063, effective December 2, 2022)