Positive pressure rooms are used for which purpose in hospital infection control?

• A. Protective isolation
• B. Infectious isolation
• C. Environmental containment
• D. Sterile processing

Answer: (A)

Positive pressure rooms are used to protect a highly susceptible patient from exposure to airborne contaminants. By keeping the room at higher pressure than surrounding areas, air tends to flow out of the room when doors are opened, and the incoming air is filtered (often with HEPA). This setup helps keep potential pathogens outside the patient’s space, which is the essence of protective isolation for immunocompromised patients. In contrast, infectious isolation relies on negative pressure to prevent pathogens from escaping the room, environmental containment isn’t the standard term here, and sterile processing relates to sterilizing equipment rather than room pressure.