Which term refers to the approach that all patients are considered infectious until proven otherwise?

• A. Standard precautions
• B. Universal precautions
• C. Isolation precautions
• D. Personal protective equipment

Answer: (B)

Treating every patient as potentially infectious and applying precautions consistently during every contact is the approach here. This idea is known as universal precautions. It came from the goal of preventing transmission of bloodborne pathogens by assuming all blood and certain body fluids could be infectious, so you use protective gear and safe practices with every patient encounter. While today the broad framework is called standard precautions, universal precautions is the classic term that captures this mindset of treating all patients as infectious until proven otherwise. Isolation precautions are used when you know or strongly suspect a specific infection and need targeted measures, and personal protective equipment is the gear used to carry out these precautions, not the overall approach itself.