Which of the following best describes contact precautions?

Contact precautions are specifically designed to prevent the transmission of infections that can be spread by direct or indirect contact with a patient or their environment. This approach is critical in healthcare settings, particularly for infections that can survive on surfaces or are present in bodily fluids. For instance, infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms or certain gastrointestinal pathogens require careful management of how healthcare workers interact with both patients and their surroundings.

When contact precautions are implemented, they typically involve practices such as wearing gloves and gowns when entering a room of a patient who is known or suspected to be infected. This helps to protect healthcare workers from potentially contaminated surfaces and reduces the risk of spreading infections between patients.

The other options described different types of precautions that do not align with the definition of contact precautions. For example, airborne precautions pertain to preventing infections that are transmitted through airborne pathogens, which requires more stringent measures, including specialized respirators. Droplet precautions focus on preventing the spread of infections carried by droplets that may be produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Vector-borne precautions address transmission through organisms that carry infections, such as insects, which is fundamentally different from the contact-based transmission targeted by contact precautions.