Objects touched by someone with a communicable disease which can then be the means of passing on the disease to others.
A physical object or surface that transmits an infectious agent from one person to another. A fomite may be a vehicle for larger, visible organisms, such as a comb carrying head lice. It may also be a tiny dust particle that is contaminated by droplets of infected saliva coughed into the air by a person who has an infectious cold virus. When a susceptible person comes in contact with a fomite, he or she can contract the infection present on the infected object or surface.
A traditional term used to include all articles which have been brought into sufficiently close contact with a person sick of some infectious disease to retain the infective material and spread the disease. For example, clothes, bedding, carpets, toys and books may all be fomites until they are disinfected.
Fomites refer to inanimate objects such as bed linen, clothing, books, or telephone receivers that, while not inherently harmful, can harbor harmful microorganisms or parasites. As a result, they can facilitate the transmission of infections from one person to another. Fomites are particularly involved in transmitting respiratory infections, like influenza. The singular form of the word “fomites” is “fomes.”