Universal precautions require treating all blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious.

Universal precautions require treating all blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious.

• A. Treat all blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious
• B. Treat all saliva as non-infectious
• C. Only treat known infected cases
• D. Only treat bloodborne pathogens in immunocompromised patients

Answer: (A)

Universal precautions require treating all blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious to ensure consistent protection for healthcare workers and patients. Since infection status is often unknown, applying precautions regardless of apparent health reduces the risk of transmitting bloodborne pathogens such as HIV, HBV, and HCV. This is why the best choice is to treat all blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious. The other options misstate the scope: saliva isn’t automatically non-infectious, and precautions aren’t limited to known infections or to immunocompromised patients only.

Universal precautions require treating all blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious to ensure consistent protection for healthcare workers and patients. Since infection status is often unknown, applying precautions regardless of apparent health reduces the risk of transmitting bloodborne pathogens such as HIV, HBV, and HCV. This is why the best choice is to treat all blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious. The other options misstate the scope: saliva isn’t automatically non-infectious, and precautions aren’t limited to known infections or to immunocompromised patients only.