• Follow hand hygiene recommendations.
• Wear clean nonsterile gloves when touching (or when contact can be reasonably anticipated) blood, body fluids, excretions, secretions, contaminated items, mucous membranes, nonintact skin, and potentially contaminated skin. Change gloves between tasks on the same patient when moving from a contaminated body site to a clean body site, and remove gloves promptly after use.
• Wear personal protective equipment such as mask, eye protection (goggles), face shield, or fluid-repellent gown during procedures and care activities that involve touching blood, body fluids, excretions, secretions, contaminated items, mucous membranes, nonintact skin, and potentially contaminated skin or are likely to generate splashes or sprays of blood or body fluids. Use gown to protect skin and prevent soiling of clothing.
• Avoid recapping used needles. If you must recap, never use two hands. Use a needle-recapping device or the one-handed scoop technique. Place needles, sharps, and scalpels in appropriate puncture-resistant containers after use.
• Wear gloves to handle used patient care equipment that is soiled with blood or identified body fluids, secretions, and excretions to prevent transfer of microorganisms. Clean and reprocess items appropriately if used for another patient.
• Follow respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette. These strategies are targeted at patients and accompanying family members, caregivers and friends with undiagnosed transmissible respiratory infections. These strategies apply to any person entering a health care facility with signs of illness, including cough, congestion, rhinorrhea, or increased production of respiratory secretions. Educate patients and visitors to health care facilities to cover the mouth/nose with a tissue when coughing; to dispose of used tissues promptly; to use surgical masks on the coughing person when tolerated and appropriate; to use hand hygiene after contact with respiratory secretions; and to use spatial separation, ideally >3 ft, between people with respiratory infections in common waiting areas when possible. Health care personnel are advised to observe Droplet Precautions (i.e., wear a mask) and perform hand hygiene when examining and caring for patients with signs and symptoms of a respiratory infection. Health care personnel who have a respiratory infection are advised to avoid direct patient contact, especially with high-risk patients. If this is not possible, then a mask should be worn while providing patient care.
• Use safe injection practices: Use basic principles of aseptic technique for the preparation and administration of parenteral medications, including the use of a sterile, single-use, disposable needle and syringe for each injection given and prevention of contamination of injection equipment and medication. Whenever possible, use of single-dose vials is preferred over multiple-dose vials, especially when medications will be administered to multiple patients.
• Wear a face mask for placement of a central venous catheter and for placement of a catheter or injecting material into the spinal or epidural space.

Standard Precautions generally apply to the recommended practices of health care providers during patient care. Respiratory Hygiene/Cough Etiquette applies broadly to all persons who enter a health care setting, including health care personnel, patients, and visitors.

• Provide Respiratory Hygiene/Cough Etiquette education for health care providers, patients, and visitors.
• Post signs, in language(s) appropriate to the population served, with Respiratory Hygiene/Cough Etiquette instructions for patients, family members, caregivers, friends, and visitors.
• Cover the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing; promptly dispose of used tissues.
• Use surgical masks on a coughing person when tolerated and appropriate.
• Perform hand hygiene after contact with respiratory secretions.
• Provide spatial separation, ideally >3 ft, of persons with respiratory infections in common waiting areas when possible.
• Health care providers should observe Droplet Precautions when caring for patients with signs and symptoms of a respiratory infection.
• Health care providers who have a respiratory infection should avoid direct patient contact, especially with high-risk patients; if not possible, a mask should be worn while providing patient care.