What is the difference between standard precautions and transmission-based precautions?

• A. There is no difference; they are the same.
• B. Transmission-based precautions apply to all patients.
• C. Standard precautions apply to all patients; transmission-based precautions add measures for known or suspected infections (airborne, droplet, or contact).
• D. Standard precautions are only for airborne infections.

Answer: (C)

The essential idea is that there are universal safety steps used for every patient, and then there are extra measures added when a patient has or is suspected of having a specific infection that can spread in particular ways. Standard precautions are the baseline applied to all patients to prevent transmission—things like good hand hygiene, using gloves when touching blood or bodily fluids, wearing masks or eye protection when there’s a risk of splashes, safe needle practices, and proper cleaning and disinfection of equipment and surfaces. Transmission-based precautions are layered on top of that baseline only when a patient is known or suspected to have an infection that spreads via a specific route, and they’re tailored to that route. They’re grouped as airborne (requiring special rooms and respirators), droplet (protective measures when large-particle droplets are involved), or contact (gloves and gowns to prevent contact with contaminated surfaces). For example, TB requires airborne precautions, influenza often requires droplet precautions, and MRSA requires contact precautions. So the correct idea is that standard precautions apply to all patients, and transmission-based precautions add extra measures for known or suspected infections.