Staff are still being put at risk of bloodborne viruses through sharps injury, according the latest ‘Eye of the Needle’ report.
A report by Public Health England (PHE) has warned that healthcare workers continue to be at risk of exposure to bloodborne viruses through occupational sharps injuries, despite the fact that safety-engineered devices to prevent these injuries are now available.
Occupational exposures to a bloodborne virus (BBV) that were reported to PHE increased among healthcare workers from 373 in 2004 to 496 in 2013. Over this 10-year period, approximately 30% of exposures involved a source patient infected with HIV; 54% involved hepatitis C (HCV), and 9%, hepatitis B (HBV).
Of these exposures 81% were sustained by doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants and 65% occurred during clinical procedures. Seventy-eight percent of exposures involved a percutaneous needlestick injury, the majority of which were sharps injuries involving a hollow-bore needle.
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