[Contagious patient in ambulatory care : precautions and measures for exposed contacts]

This article provides practical recommendations for the management of infectious diseases in outpatient medical practice, based on modes of transmission and a syndromic approach to identify high-risk situations, implement appropriate additional measures (such as masks, hygiene, and protective equipment), and organize patients' flow. Once an infectious diagnosis is established, some communicable diseases require individual interventions (such as isolation or secondary prophylaxis) or measures for close contacts (such as antibiotic prophylaxis or postexposure vaccination), to be implemented in coordination with public health authorities. This article is intended for general practitioners and offers a summary of the key individual and collective measures recommended for the most common communicable diseases.