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Body fluid exposure in an urban tertiary care medical center
Author(s) -
Longbottom Helen Mary,
Cox Katherine,
Sokas Rosemary K.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700230504
Subject(s) - medicine , immunization , hepatitis b , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , vaccination , health care , universal precautions , hepatitis , environmental health , emergency medicine , family medicine , medical emergency , immunology , antigen , economics , economic growth
The increasing prevalences of the human immunodeficiency (HIV) and hepatitis B viruses have focused attention on the risks that health care workers face when exposed to potentially infective body fluids. This study establishes a profile of 320 parenteral exposure incidents and 47 exposure incidents to mucous membranes or abraded skin, reported in our medical center between July 1988 and July 1990. We found that 102 (27.8%) of the incidents involved an HIV‐positive patient, that 130 (35.4%) of the reporting employees had completed their hepatitis B vaccination at the time of the incident, and that, although the majority of incidents involved employees with patient contact, unfortunately, service workers also were represented (4.6%, n + 17). Factors contributing to incidents included recapping (10.9%, n + 40), full needleboxes (7.6%, n + 28), and inappropriate disposal (13.1%, n + 48). A health fair featuring walk‐in hepatitis B immunization attracted 260 participants, 90% of whom completed the entire immunization series. This significantly improved the immunization rate of employees subsequently reporting body fluid exposure. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.