Neutropenic precautions

There’s a nice post on this topic in the Clinical Correlations blog titled Neutorpenic Precautions Demystified. It should have been titled Neutropenic Precautions Debunked because it’s one of the most non-evidence based things we do in medicine. Save for a few notable exceptions these patients get infected from within rather than from without.

Should this well entrenched procedure be abandoned? I don’t know. I’d hate to foster a casual attitude in the care of these patients. As with the care of all patients hand washing is essential.