Name a common infectious disease transmission-based precaution for healthcare workers?

Name a common infectious disease transmission-based precaution for healthcare workers?

• A. Standard precautions (assume all patients are potentially infectious) and, when indicated, contact, droplet, or airborne precautions.
• B. No precautions are necessary.
• C. Only airborne precautions are used for all patients.
• D. Precautions only apply to visitors.

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is infection-control strategy that uses standard precautions for every patient and adds transmission-based precautions based on how a disease spreads. Standard precautions cover basic safety measures like hand hygiene, gloves, gowns, masks or eye protection as needed, safe injection practices, and environmental cleaning, applied to all patients. Transmission-based precautions are added when a patient is known or suspected to have an infection and are chosen according to the spread method—contact, droplet, or airborne. For contact, use gloves and a gown; for droplets, wear a mask and eye protection during close contact; for airborne, place the patient in a negative-pressure room and use a fitted respirator. This combined approach is the common precaution used by healthcare workers to prevent transmission. Other options don’t reflect this comprehensive, layered strategy.

The concept being tested is infection-control strategy that uses standard precautions for every patient and adds transmission-based precautions based on how a disease spreads. Standard precautions cover basic safety measures like hand hygiene, gloves, gowns, masks or eye protection as needed, safe injection practices, and environmental cleaning, applied to all patients. Transmission-based precautions are added when a patient is known or suspected to have an infection and are chosen according to the spread method—contact, droplet, or airborne. For contact, use gloves and a gown; for droplets, wear a mask and eye protection during close contact; for airborne, place the patient in a negative-pressure room and use a fitted respirator. This combined approach is the common precaution used by healthcare workers to prevent transmission. Other options don’t reflect this comprehensive, layered strategy.