Meningococcal disease (Neisseria meningitidis)
Meningococcal disease precautions
- How long
- Until 24 hours after effective therapy starts
- Room
- Single room preferred
- PPE
- Facemask on room entry
- Exposures
- Chemoprophylaxis for household contacts and staff exposed to respiratory secretions; vaccine only to control outbreaks
- Other meningitis
- Hib: Droplet for 24 hours; S. pneumoniae, fungal and most other bacterial: Standard
What CDC’s table says
Verbatim from CDC’s Appendix A, with bibliography numbers removed.
Meningococcal disease: sepsis, pneumonia, Meningitis
DropletStandardDurationUntil 24 hours after initiation of effective therapy
Postexposure chemoprophylaxis for household contacts, HCWs exposed to respiratory secretions; postexposure vaccine only to control outbreaks.
Meningitis — Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcal) known or suspected
DropletStandardDurationUntil 24 hours after initiation of effective therapy
See Meningococcal Disease below.
Meningitis — Haemophilus Influenzae, type b known or suspected
DropletStandardDurationUntil 24 hours after initiation of effective therapy
Meningitis — Streptococcus pneumoniae
StandardDuration—
Meningitis — Aseptic (nonbacterial or viral; also see Enteroviral infections)
StandardDuration—
Contact for infants and young children.
Test yourself: a CIC-style question
A patient with suspected meningococcal meningitis is admitted to the emergency department. Which Transmission-Based Precautions should be implemented immediately?
- Contact Precautions
- Droplet Precautions
- Airborne Precautions
- Standard Precautions only
Show answer
B. Droplet Precautions
Neisseria meningitidis spreads by respiratory droplets. Droplet + Standard Precautions start on suspicion and continue until 24 hours after effective therapy begins.
Questions like this come up in the Preventing and Controlling the Transmission of Infectious Agents domain of the CIC® exam. The 654 questions in the app each come with a written explanation.
FAQ
- What precautions are needed for Meningococcal disease?
- Droplet + Standard. Room: Single room preferred. PPE: Facemask on room entry. Exposures: Chemoprophylaxis for household contacts and staff exposed to respiratory secretions; vaccine only to control outbreaks. Other meningitis: Hib: Droplet for 24 hours; S. pneumoniae, fungal and most other bacterial: Standard.
- How long do Meningococcal disease precautions last?
- Until 24 hours after effective therapy starts.
Sources
Checked against CDC on October 21, 2026. For education and CIC® exam preparation only — not a substitute for your facility’s infection prevention policies, your state or local health department, or clinical judgment. CBIC and CDC do not endorse this tool.