Standard Precautions

Use Standard Precautions for the care of all clients.

Airborne Precautions

In addition to Standard Precautions, use Airborne Precautions for clients known or suspected to have serious illnesses transmitted by airborne droplet nuclei.

Examples of such illnesses include:

• Measles
• Varicella (including disseminated zoster)
• Tuberculosis

Droplet Precautions

In addition to Standard Precautions, use Droplet Precautions for clients known or suspected to have serious illnesses transmitted by large-particle droplets.

Examples of such illnesses include:

• Invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b disease, including meningitis, pneumonia, epiglottitis, and sepsis
• Invasive Neisseria meningitidis disease, including meningitis, pneumonia, and sepsis

Other serious bacterial respiratory infections spread by droplet transmission, including:

• Diphtheria (pharyngeal)
• Mycoplasma pneumonia
• Pertussis
• Pneumonic plague
• Streptococcal (group A) pharyngitis, pneumonia, or scarlet fever in infants and young children

Serious viral infections spread by droplet transmission, including:

• Adenovirus
• Influenza
• Mumps
• Parvovirus B19
• Rubella

Contact Precautions

In addition to Standard Precautions, use Contact Precautio ns for clients known or suspected to have serious illnesses easily transmitted by direct client contact or by contact with items in the client’s environment.

Examples of such illnesses include:

• Gastrointestinal, respiratory, skin, or wound infections or colonization with multidrug-resistant bacteria judged by the infection control program, based on current state, regional, or national recommendations, to be of special clinical and epidemiologic significance

Enteric infections with a low infectious dose or prolonged environmental survival, including:

• Clostridium difficile
• For clients who are in diapers or incontinent: enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7, Shigella, hepatitis A, or rotavirus

Respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus, or enteroviral infections in infants and young children

Skin infections that are highly contagious or that may occur on dry skin, including:

• Diphtheria (cutaneous)
• Herpes simplex virus (neonatal or mucocutaneous)
• Impetigo
• Major (noncontained) abscesses, cellulitis, or decubiti
• Pediculosis
• Scabies
• Staphylococcal furunculosis in infants and young children
• Zoster (disseminated or in the host who is immunocompromised)
• Viral/hemorrhagic conjunctivitis
• Viral hemorrhagic infections ( Ebola, Lassa, or Marburg )

Adapted from Fundamentals of Isolation Precautions, CDC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, from www.cdc.gov/ncidod/hip/ISOLAT/isopart2.htm.