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airborne precautions

Avoids spread of infection via airborne droplets < 5 um or by contaminated dust particles. Examples: 1) tuberculosis 2) rubeola (measles) 3) varicella (also contact precautions) 4) Covid-19 [1] Methods: 1) private rooms 2) masks with entry to the room (1 um masks) 3) limiting patient transport 4) negative pressure ventilation to the outside 6) > 6 air exchanges/hour 7) surgical face masks used consistently useful for preventing transmission in community settings [2] 8) among health care workers, fitted N95 respirators are more effective than surgical face masks [1,2]

Related

airborne pathogen droplet precautions infection control universal precautions

General

standard precautions

References

  1. Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 11, 17, 18. American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 1998, 2018. - Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 19 Board Basics. An Enhancement to MKSAP19. American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 2022
  2. MacIntyre CR and Chughtai AA Facemasks for the prevention of infection in healthcare and community settings. BMJ 2015;350:h694 PMID: 25858901 http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h694