Isolation Precautions (Internal Links)

For certain diseases, patients and inmates should be in isolation. The type of isolation procedures depends on the way a disease is transmitted. The charts on the next pages show what isolation procedures are necessary for various diseases. There are two levels of isolation precautions.

• "Standard Precautions" (formerly "universal precautions") are used in the care of ALL patients, clients and inmates. They are used regardless of whether or not a person is known to be infectious. Standard precautions are designed to reduce the risk of transmission of microorganisms from both recognized and unrecognized sources of infection. 
  
  
• "Transmission-Based Precautions" are measures designed to prevent infection when patients, clients or inmates are known or suspected of having a particular disease that can be easily spread. They are used IN ADDITION to standard precautions. 
  
  

There are three types of transmission-based precautions:

• airborne 
  
  
• droplet 
  
  
• contact

See the Following Publications and Web Sites for More Information

AFSCME fact sheets:

• AIDS/HIV Disease 
  
  
• Forcing Compliance with OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard 
  
  
• Hepatitis A 
  
  
• Hepatitis B 
  
  
• Hepatitis C 
  
  
• Scabies 
  
  
• Smallpox 
  
  
• Smallpox Vaccine: What Workers Need To Know Before Volunteering To Be Vaccinated 
  
  
• Smallpox Vaccine: Health and Workplace Protections 
  
  
• Tuberculosis 
  
  

Edited by Benenson, Abram, Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, Sixteenth Edition, 1995, An official report of the American Public Health Association

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Guidelines for Protecting the Safety and Health of Health Care Workers, 1988