title: A 5-year surveillance of occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens in a university teaching hospital in Monterrey, Mexico.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens (OEBPs) is a serious health and safety concern for health care providers. Lack of experience of medical personal in training could make them more susceptible for acquiring infections by these infectious agents.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a 5-year retrospective review of all reported occupational exposures. Characteristics, risk factors, and management of the accidents were obtained from OEBP database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 951 events were analyzed, and 94.3% occurred in medical personnel in training; of those, 87.4% were percutaneous injuries. The emergency room was the hospital ward with more events recorded (34.1%), followed by the internal medicine and surgical wards. A hollow needle was used in 59.1% of the events, a suture needle in 10.7%, and a lancet in 8.8%. Most of events were recorded in the morning shift (38.3%). The months with fewer reports of events were January, July, and December, and the months with the highest reports were the combined months of October 2006 through 2011.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high incidence of OEBP in medical personnel in training was detected; this high frequency correlates with the dynamics of the student population during the year and the hands on practice that the nursing and medical students receive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hospital Epidemiology, Hospital Universitario Dr. José Eleuterio González Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico. acamacho_md@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Adrián
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Camacho-Ortiz
authors.forename: Xiomara
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Díaz-Rodríguez
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-López
authors.forename: Mayra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martínez-Palomares
authors.forename: Arely
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palomares-De la Rosa
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garza-Gonzalez
mesh_terms: D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Exposure of body fluids to mucosal membranes; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis C virus; Human immunodeficiency virus; Medical personal in training; Percutaneous injuries