Exposure to blood or body fluids: management for health care.
Health care workers are at risk of exposure to blood and body fluids from their patients through needlestick injuries or contamination of mucous membranes - a slash of blood in the eye, for example. Exposure to blood /body fluids is now the second biggest cause of occupational injury among NHS workers (UNISON, 2003). The first example of a case of occupational exposure of a health care worker to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and subsequent seroconversion following a needlestick injury was reported in the 1980s. This incident raised awareness of the risk that health care workers face when they are exposed to blood-borne viruses, in particular hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
Allan
Joe
J
Wirral Hospital NHS Trust.
D001826:Body Fluids / Q000821:virology*; D019091:Critical Pathways; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016602:Needlestick Injuries; D006113:United Kingdom; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*