Which of the following are required for a patient under droplet precautions?

Standard Precautions

When you are close to patients or close to handling blood, bodily fluid, bodily tissues, mucous membranes, or areas of open skin, you must use personal protective equipment (PPE).

Follow standard precautions with all patients, based on the type of exposure expected.

Depending on the anticipated exposure, types of PPE that may be required include:

• Gloves
• Masks and goggles
• Aprons, gowns, and shoe covers

It is also important to properly clean up afterward.

Transmission-based Precautions

Transmission-based precautions are extra steps to follow for illnesses that are caused by certain germs. Transmission-based precautions are followed in addition to standard precautions. Some infections require more than one type of transmission-based precaution.

Follow transmission-based precautions when an illness is first suspected. Stop following these precautions only when that illness has been treated or ruled out and the room has been cleaned.

Patients should stay in their rooms as much as possible while these precautions are in place. They may need to wear a mask when they leave their rooms.

Airborne precautions may be needed for germs that are so small they can float in the air and travel long distances.

• Airborne precautions help keep staff, visitors, and other people from breathing in these germs and getting sick.
• Germs that warrant airborne precautions include chickenpox, measles, and tuberculosis (TB) bacteria infecting the lungs or larynx (voicebox).
• People who have these germs should be in special rooms where the air is gently sucked out and not allowed to flow into the hallway. This is called a negative pressure room.
• Anyone who goes into the room should put on a well-fitted respirator mask before they enter.

Contact precautions may be needed for germs that are spread by touching.

• Contact precautions help keep staff and visitors from spreading the germs after touching a person or an object the person has touched.
• Some of the germs that contact precautions protect from are C difficile, norovirus, and COVID-19. These germs can cause serious infection in the intestines or lungs.
• Anyone entering the room who may touch the person or objects in the room should wear a gown and gloves.

Droplet precautions are used to prevent contact with mucus and other secretions from the nose and sinuses, throat, airways, and lungs.

• When a person talks, sneezes, or coughs, droplets that contain germs can travel about 3 feet (90 centimeters).
• Illnesses that require droplet precautions include influenza (flu), pertussis (whooping cough), mumps, and respiratory illnesses, such as those caused by coronavirus infections including COVID-19.
• Anyone who goes into the room should wear a surgical mask.

References

Calfee DP. Prevention and control of health care-associated infections. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 26th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 266.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Isolation precautions. www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/isolation/index.html. Updated July 22, 2019. Accessed October 24, 2021.

Palmore TN. Infection prevention and control in the health care setting. In: Bennett JE, Dolin R, Blaser MJ, eds. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 298.

Review Date 10/24/2021

Updated by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

In many different healthcare settings, transmission-based precautions are used to help stop the spread of germs from one person to another. The goal is to protect patients, their families, other visitors, and healthcare workers—and stop germs from spreading across a healthcare setting.

There are three different types of transmission precautions:

1. Contact Precautions—used for infections, diseases, or germs that are spread by touching the patient or items in the room (examples: MRSA, VRE, diarrheal illnesses, open wounds, RSV).
2. Droplet Precautions—used for diseases or germs that are spread in tiny droplets caused by coughing and sneezing (examples: pneumonia, influenza, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis).
3. Airborne Precautions—used for diseases or very small germs that are spread through the air from one person to another (examples: tuberculosis, measles, chickenpox).

If you or a family member has been placed on transmission precautions, there will be a sign at the door of your hospital room to remind visitors and healthcare workers which precautions are needed. It is important to understand what this means for you and what you should expect from the hospital staff.

All visitors and healthcare workers should follow the isolation precautions. In some cases, this means visitors (and visits) may have to be limited. Visitors should not eat or drink in these rooms and should always clean their hands before entering the room and upon exiting the room.

Which of the following patients requires droplet precautions?

What are the four items of PPE droplet precautions?

What are droplet isolation precautions?