TABLE 3.

Example of infection control precautions

Precaution	Use	Requirement	Example infections/conditions that require precautions
Contact precautions	Patients known or suspected to have serious illnesses easily transmitted by direct patient contact or by contact with items in the patient’s environment	Gloves; gown	Clostridioides difficile; gastroenteritis- rotavirus; human metapneumovirus
Droplet precautions	Barrier to stop infections spread by large (>5 μm), moist droplets generated when coughing, sneezing, or speaking	Contact precautions; well-fitting mask; eye protection	Mumps (infectious parotitis); Mycoplasma pneumonia
Airborne precautions	Patients known or suspected to have serious illnesses transmitted by airborne droplet nuclei	Contract precautions; droplet precautions; N95 mask; isolation room (in hospital)	Pulmonary or laryngeal tuberculosis; severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); smallpox