Are anterooms required?
• In general, the CDC Guidelines include design parameters for isolation rooms with and without anterooms. Anterooms are recommended for certain special situations, such as isolating a TB patient after surgery, or isolating smallpox or viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) patients. The 2003 CDC Guidelines illustrate two options for these situations, one with a neutral anteroom and one with an anteroom under negative pressure related to both the patient room and the corridor. If a room with an anteroom is not available, CDC recommends using portable HEPA units in the room to provide additional ACH equivalents.
