Three categories of transmission based precautions on the basis of modes are the following: • Contact Precautions • Droplet Precautions • Airborne Precautions Contact Precautions Purpose: Prevent transmission of infectious agents spread by direct or indirect contact with patient or their environment Example: 1. Epidemiologically important micro-organisms,MDROs 2. Also applied when there is excessive wound drainage,faecal incontinence or other discharge from the body Methods applied for prevention: 1. Implement Standard Precaution 2. Cohorting 3. In multi patient room, ensure more than 3 feet separation between bed 4. Rooms should be prioritized for cleaning and disinfection with focus on frequently touched surfaces and equipments in the immediate vicinity of the patient Contact Precautions Methods applied for prevention: 5. Discontinue Contact Precautions after sign and symptoms of the infection have resolved Precautions for HCPs and patients: • HCPs should wear gowns and gloves for all patients and environmental contact.PPE should be donned on entry and discarded before exiting the patients room • Perform hand hygiene Special handling of equipments: Single use or decontaminate before use on next patient Transport of patients: • Limit patient movement • Notify receiving area Droplet Precautions Purpose: Prevent transmission of infectious agents spread through close respiratory or mucous membrane contact with respiratory secretions Example: B.pertussis,influenza vius,adenovirus,rhinovirus,N.Meningitides,group A Streptococcus,corynebacteria,mumps and H.influenzae B Methods applied for prevention: 1. Implement Standard Precaution 2. Single patient room is preferred 3. Avoid placing such patients in the same room with high risk and immunocompromised patients Droplet Precautions Precautions for HCPs and patients: • HCPs should wear a mask on entry in the room of such patients (a respirator is not necessary) • Patient should wear a mask and follow Respiratory Hygiene /Cough Etiquette if they need transportation outside the room • Perform hand hygiene Special handling of equipments: None Transport of patients: • Notify receiving area • Provide appropriate masks for patients Airborne Precautions Purpose: Prevent transmission of infectious agents that remain infectious over long distances when suspended in air Example: Rubella virus (measles), Varicella virus (chicken pox), M.tuberculosis and possibly SARS-Co-V Methods applied for prevention: 1. Implement Standard Precaution 2. Patient should be placed in isolation room (room that is equipped with special air handling and ventilation capacity) with negative pressure in relative to surrounding area. 3. Room should be having 12 air exchange per hour Airborne Precautions Precautions for HCPs and patients: • HCPs should wear a mask or respirator depending on the disease specific recommendations, donned before entry in the room • Whenever possible ,non immune HCWs should not care for patients with vaccine preventable airborne diseases (measles, chicken pox) • Perform hand hygiene
Special handling of equipments: None
Transport of patients: • Limit patient transport • Notify receiving area • Provide appropriate masks for patients