What is the recommended infection control protocol when working with an HIV-positive patient?

Using standard precautions is the recommended infection control protocol when working with an HIV-positive patient. Standard precautions are a set of guidelines designed to prevent the transmission of infectious agents from both recognized and unrecognized sources of infection. These precautions assume that every patient's blood and certain body fluids are potentially infectious, regardless of their known HIV status.

Standard precautions include practices such as hand hygiene, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves and masks when needed, safe handling of sharp instruments, and proper cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces and equipment. This approach is effective not only for HIV but also for a wide range of other infectious diseases, making it universally applicable in healthcare settings.

In contrast, contact precautions, droplet precautions, and airborne precautions are specific protocols intended for particular types of infections that require additional measures due to their modes of transmission. However, HIV is primarily transmitted through direct contact with infected blood or bodily fluids, making standard precautions the appropriate and safest practice for managing care for patients living with HIV.