BLOOD CONTACT VIRAL INFECTIONS AMONG MEDICAL AND HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS – RISK REDUCTION, POST-EXPOSURE PREVENTION
Keywords:
infection, blood, exposure, nosocomial infectionAbstract
The health and safety of patients, physicians, and health care professionals is paramount in the health care system. Due to daily contact with various infectious and non-infectious factors, they are at risk of nosocomial infection with agents of blood-borne infections. This threat can be reduced by avoiding high-risk practices, eliminating risk factors, using barrier agents, hepatitis B vaccination, and post-exposure prophylaxis.
The greatest risk of injury and infection is improper disposal of needles and syringes. Their repeated or improper use can be the cause of infection with more than twenty pathogens, some of which are the AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses. The risk of HIV, HBV and HCV infection depends on the type of pathogen and exposure, the amount of blood, the concentration of the virus, the presence or absence of pre-exposure or post-exposure prophylaxis.
The most important factor is blood, and a needle stick or cut with a sharp instrument is the most effective way to transmit infection to healthcare workers. The average risk of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is 0.3%, from 0 to 0.9%, for hepatitis B virus (HBV) is 18%, ranging from 6 to 30%, for the virus of hepatitis C (HCV) – 1.8%, is from 0 to 7%.
Risk of infection with blood-borne pathogens exists for both medical and healthcare professionals, support staff and patients. They can be infected by contact with infected blood during an invasive procedure, by infusing non-sterile infusion fluids, by gaps in the sterilization of medical devices, by transplantation.
Every medical institution must have a developed system for the prevention and control of nosocomial infections, part of which includes the prevention, reporting and control of risk exposures and post-exposure prophylaxis in case of contact with blood and body fluids.
Program effectiveness is demonstrated when facilities have a well-organized incident reporting environment focused on common factors and trends rather than individual errors.
Good practices are the basis for updating the current legal framework and become a rule.
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