Final answer:
Reusable items in contact with mucous membranes require high-level disinfection. Critical items need sterilization, while noncritical ones need lower levels of disinfection or cleaning. Antiseptics, not disinfectants, are used on live tissue.
Step-by-step explanation:
Any reusable item that comes in contact with the patient's mucous membranes should receive high-level disinfection.
This is to ensure semicritical items that may contact such membranes or nonintact skin are adequately disinfected to prevent the transmission of infections.
High-level disinfection involves the use of chemical disinfectants capable of killing vegetative cells, fungi, viruses, and even some resilient endospores.
For critical items that penetrate sterile tissues, sterilization is necessary to eliminate all forms of microbial life. On the other hand, instruments used for handling intact skin are considered noncritical and usually require a simpler level of cleaning or low-level disinfection.
Antiseptics are suitable for use on living tissues to control microbial growth and prevent infection, as opposed to disinfectants, which are used on non-living surfaces.
correct option A. Low-level disinfection