Standard Precautions refer to infection control practices used to prevent transmission via which routes?

• A. Blood, body fluids, non-intact skin, and mucous membranes.
• B. Airborne pathogens only.
• C. Environmental surfaces only.
• D. Blood, body fluids, non-intact skin (including rashes), and mucous membranes.

Answer: (A)

Standard precautions protect against transmission when there is contact with blood, body fluids, non-intact skin, or mucous membranes. This means treating all blood and bodily fluids as potentially infectious and taking precautions every time you interact with patients, regardless of whether you know they have an infection. Practically, you apply hand hygiene before and after contact, wear gloves when touching fluids or broken skin, use masks or eye protection and gowns as needed to prevent splashes, practice safe needle handling, and clean and disinfect surfaces that could be contaminated. These measures cover the main routes of contact transmission, not just airborne routes or environmental surfaces alone. Non-intact skin—the skin with breaks, cuts, or rashes—provides a portal for pathogens, which is why it’s included under these precautions.