[Needlestick injuries and reporting routines].
BACKGROUND
Health care workers are at risk for transmission of blood-borne agents through percutaneous exposure. Reporting of sharps injuries is essential for instigation of adequate post-exposure prophylaxis and follow-up. We aimed at providing an account of number of sharps injuries reported by type of health care worker and the reporting systems used for injuries that have an inherent risk of transmitting blood-borne agents.


METHODS
The section for HSE (health, safety and environment) at Haukeland University Hospital provided us with an overview of requests for analyses of hepatitis and HIV linked to 159 sharps injuries that had not been reported otherwise. Injury reports at Haukeland University Hospital from the period 2003 - 2007 (n = 8556) were systematically reviewed.


RESULTS
On average, 210 sharps injuries are reported annually at Haukeland University Hospital. In addition analyses of hepatitis and HIV linked to 159 sharps injuries that had not been reported otherwise, were requested annually. 51 % of sharps injuries were reported by nurses, 10 % by laboratory workers, 6 % by doctors and 33 % by others.


CONCLUSIONS
Sharps injuries are often not reported, and especially doctors fail to report them. Of health care workers, nurses report most sharps injuries. Related to numbers employed, laboratory workers report most sharps injuries.
Husøy
Astrid-Mette
AM
Laboratorium for klinisk biokjemi, Haukeland universitetssykehus, 5021 Bergen, Norway. astrid.husoy@helse-bergen.no
Minde
Tone
T
Knudsen
Hildegunn
H
Akselsen
Per Espen
PE
D015658:HIV Infections / Q000635:transmission; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / Q000517:prevention & control; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data