A patient with suspected West Nile fever should be managed with which precautions?

• A. Standard precautions (SP)
• B. Airborne isolation
• C. Contact isolation
• D. Droplet isolation

Answer: (A)

West Nile virus isn’t spread through routine person-to-person contact via droplets or by the air, so the baseline protection used for all patients is appropriate. Standard precautions encompass hand hygiene and the use of gloves, gowns, and eye protection as needed for contact with bodily fluids or contaminated surfaces, regardless of the patient’s diagnosis. Since there’s no routine transmission by respiratory droplets or through direct contact in the usual clinical setting, there’s no need to implement airborne, droplet, or contact isolation specifically for suspected West Nile fever. Airborne precautions would be for diseases like TB or certain disseminated viral infections; droplet for infections spread by larger respiratory droplets; and contact for pathogens transmitted by direct or indirect contact. In short, standard precautions adequately address the infection control needs for suspected West Nile fever.