Private room is required, and a simple surgical mask suffices to interrupt transmission.
Airborne precautions Use for active pulmonary or laryngeal tuberculosis, measles or chickenpox.
Private, negative pressure room required. When admitting a patient with possible TB, call or page Infection Control, who will arrange for proper room placement. Only three well-collected morning sputa negative for AFB suffices to rule out TB for purposes of removing the patient from airborne precautions. A patient with proven TB, who is on appropriate therapy but must remain in hospital, can be taken out of isolation only when symptoms substantially subside and AFB smears of three morning sputa are negative. A patient on therapy may be discharged home at any time without results of AFB smears of sputa as long as all persons at home have already been exposed.