What isolation precaution is indicated for a patient with C. difficile infection?

• A. Airborne
• B. Contact
• C. Droplet
• D. Standard

Answer: (B)

C. difficile spreads mainly by contact with contaminated surfaces or hands, via its hardy spores. Because spores can linger on the environment and be transmitted to patients through touch, the appropriate approach is contact precautions. This means gloves and a gown for all patient interactions, using dedicated or cleaned equipment, and performing hand hygiene with soap and water after removing gloves (soap and water is more effective against spores than alcohol-based rubs). The environment should be cleaned with sporicidal agents to remove spores.

Airborne precautions aren’t needed here since C. difficile isn’t transmitted through the air, and droplet precautions aren’t sufficient because the concern isn’t respiratory droplets. Standard precautions alone aren’t enough to prevent environmental and contact transmission in this case.