[Role of the occupational health physician in the evaluation of biological risk and cancer in a hospital setting].
OBJECTIVE
Elaborating and proposing a model of behaviour which is useful for any occupational doctor of a hospital in the management of the people exposed to biological risk, with the aim of preventing or early diagnosing neoplasias caused by cancerogenic infective agents.


METHODS
This study was conducted analyzing the literature data regarding biohazard work accidents which happened in health environment and the scientific evidence of the causal relationship between infective agents and development of neoplasias.


RESULTS
Data in literature show that the biohazard work accidents are very numerous and there is high percentage of sub-communication of them; many infective agents that the health workers can get in contact with, after biohazard biological accidents, are cancerogenic: HBV, HCV, HIV, HP belong to group 1 of IARC classification.


CONCLUSIONS
Health workers exposed to biological risk and in particular those who got in contact with infective biological liquids can be considered at risk of neoplasia development; for this reason, we propose a three phases behaviour model: 1. Biological risk accidents prevention; 2. Prevention of infective disease after an accident; 3. Neoplasia prevention and/or early diagnosis after the development of the infective disease.
Leone
A
A
lstituto di Medicina del Lavoro, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma. aleone78@tiscali.it
Magrini
A
A
Pietroiusti
A
A
Vinci
F
F
D006282:Health Personnel; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D009787:Occupational Medicine; D010819:Physician's Role; D018570:Risk Assessment