Which practice best reflects the universal precautions approach to bloodborne pathogens?

• A. Assume all blood is infectious and act accordingly
• B. Only treat blood when infections are known
• C. Never use gloves
• D. Ignore minor cuts with blood

Answer: (A)

Universal precautions require you to treat all human blood and certain body fluids as if they’re infectious for bloodborne pathogens, and to act with appropriate protective measures every time there’s potential contact. In practice this means wearing gloves and eye or face protection when there might be contact with blood, using gowns or other barriers as needed, and performing good hand hygiene and proper disposal of contaminated waste. It also involves using safe handling of sharps and applying engineering controls and spill-cleanup procedures to minimize exposure, regardless of what you or others know about a person’s infection status. This approach is the best because infections can be present without symptoms, so waiting for a known diagnosis would still allow exposure to occur. The alternative ideas would not protect you or others, since neglecting gloves or ignoring minor blood exposure creates real routes of transmission, and waiting for a known infection status misses cases that are not yet diagnosed.