Airborne Precautions

Airborne transmission occurs when infectious particles small enough to remain suspended in the air are inhaled by another person. Because these particles can persist after the source has stopped coughing and can move with room air, standing a short distance away or relying on a routine procedure mask for staff is not enough. Airborne precautions control the environment as well as the contact between people. The patient is placed in an airborne infection isolation room (AIIR), the room air is kept from flowing outward, and health-care workers use a fit-tested respirator. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, measles virus, and varicella-zoster virus are classic examples. SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens may also require airborne precautions in specific clinical circumstances; use the current provincial and facility IPAC direction for organism-specific decisions. Negative pressure is the containment mechanism. Air flows into the room rather than out through the doorway, so contaminated air is directed to the appropriate exhaust or filtration system. The goal is not simply to isolate the patient socially. It is to prevent infectious air from entering the corridor, nursing station, or another patient’s room.