Hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and other blood-borne infections in healthcare workers: guidelines for prevention and management in industrialised countries.
The Viral Hepatitis Prevention Board (VHPB) convened a meeting of international experts from the public and private sectors in order to review and evaluate the epidemiology of blood-borne infections in healthcare workers, to evaluate the transmission of hepatitis B and C viruses as an occupational risk, to discuss primary and secondary prevention measures and to review recommendations for infected healthcare workers and (para)medical students. This VHPB meeting outlined a number of recommendations for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis in the following domains: application of standard precautions, panels for counselling infected healthcare workers and patients, hepatitis B vaccination, restrictions on the practice of exposure-prone procedures by infected healthcare workers, ethical and legal issues, assessment of risk and costs, priority setting by individual countries and the role of the VHPB. Participants also identified a number of terms that need harmonization or standardisation in order to facilitate communication between experts.
World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
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D
FitzSimons
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François
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G
De Carli
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D
Shouval
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A
Prüss-Ustün
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V
Puro
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I
Williams
D
D
Lavanchy
A
A
De Schryver
A
A
Kopka
F
F
Ncube
G
G
Ippolito
P
P
Van Damme
D000488:Allied Health Personnel; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D019049:Developed Countries; D006282:Health Personnel; D016174:Hepacivirus; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D006515:Hepatitis B virus; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D006518:Hepatitis Viruses; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / Q000517:prevention & control; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012308:Risk Management; D014611:Vaccination