Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-22T22:10:45.373Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Risk Among Surgeons in Sub-Saharan Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Elayne Kornblatt Phillips ,
Alex Owusu-Ofori  and
Janine Jagger
Elayne Kornblatt Phillips*
Affiliation:
International Healthcare Worker Safety Center, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia
Alex Owusu-Ofori
Affiliation:
International Healthcare Worker Safety Center, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia African Healthcare Worker Safety Foundation, Kumasi, Ghana
Janine Jagger
Affiliation:
International Healthcare Worker Safety Center, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia
*
PO Box 800764, Charlottesville, VA 22908 ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

To document the frequency and circumstances of bloodborne pathogen exposures among surgeons in sub-Saharan Africa, we surveyed surgeons attending the 2006 Pan-African Association of Surgeons conference. During the previous year, surgeons sustained a mean of 3.1 percutaneous injuries, which were typically caused by suture needles. They sustained a mean of 4.1 exposures to blood and body fluid, predominantly from blood splashes to the eyes. Fewer than half of the respondents reported completion of hepatitis B vaccination, and postexposure prophylaxis for human immunodeficiency virus was widely available. Surgeons reported using hands-free passing and blunt suture needles. Non-fluid-resistant cotton gowns and masks were the barrier garments worn most frequently.

Type
Poverty and Human Development: Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 28 , Issue 12 , December 2007 , pp. 1334 - 1336
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Sagoe-Moses, C, Pearson, RD, Perry, J, Jagger, J. Risks to health-care workers in developing countries. N Engl J Med 2001;345:538–541.Google Scholar
2.Jackson, MM, Dechairo, DC, Gardner, DF. Perceptions and beliefs of nursing and medical personnel about needle-handling practices and needle-stick injuries. Am J Inject Control 1986;14:1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Needlestick transmission of HTLV-III from a patient infected in Africa. Lancet 1984;2:1376–1377.Google Scholar
4.World Health Organization (WHO). Aide-Memoire for a strategy to protect health workers from infection with bloodborne viruses. Geneva: Department of Blood Safety and Clinical Technology, WHO; 2003. Available at: http://www.who.int/injection_safety/toolbox/en/AM_HCW_Safety_EN.pdf. Accessed July 11, 2007.Google Scholar
5.Marcus, R, Culver, DH, Bell, DM, et al. Risk of human immunodeficiency virus infection among emergency department workers. Am J Med 1993;94:363–370.Google Scholar
6.Telford, GL, Quebbeman, EJ. Assessing the risk of blood exposure in the operating room. Am J Infect Control 1993;21:351–356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Mahoney, FJ, Stewart, K, Hu, H, Coleman, P, Alter, MJ. Progress toward the elimination of hepatitis B virus transmission among health care workers in the United States. Arch Intern Med 1997;157:2601–2605.Google Scholar
8. Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000, Pub L No. 106-430, 114 Stat 1901.Google Scholar
9.Jagger, J, Perry, J. Comparison of EPINet data for 1993 and 2001 shows marked decline in needlestick injury rates. Adv Exposure Prev 2003;6 25–27Google Scholar
10.Jagger, J. Caring for healthcare workers: a global perspective. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2007;28:1–4.Google Scholar
11.Jagger, J, De Carli, G, Perry, J, Puro, V, Ippolito, G. Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens: epidemiology and prevention. In: Wenzel, RP, ed. Prevention and Control of Nosocomial Infections. 4th ed. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins, 2003:430–466.Google Scholar
12.Jagger, J, Detmer, DE, Blackwell, B, Litos, M, Pearson, RD. Comparative injury risk among operating room, emergency department, and clinical laboratory personnel. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1994;15:345.Google Scholar
13.Perry, JL, Pearson, RD, Jagger, J. Infected healthcare workers and patient safety: a double standard. Am J Infect Control 2006;34:313–319.Google Scholar
14.Stringer, B, Infante-Rivard, C, Hanley, JA. Effectiveness of the hands-free technique in reducing operating theatre injuries. Occup Environ Med 2002;59:703–707.Google Scholar
15.Jagger, J, Balon, M. Blood and body fluid exposure to skin and mucous membranes. Adv Exposure Prev 1995;1:1-2,6–9.Google Scholar
16.Gioannini, P, Sinicco, A, Cariti, G, et al. HIV infection acquired by a nurse. Eur J Epidemiol 1988;4:119–120.Google Scholar
17.Sartori, M, La Terra, G, Aglietta, M, et al. Transmission of hepatitis C via blood splash into conjunctiva. Scand J Infect Dis 1993;25:270–271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Ippolito, G, Puro, V, Petrosillo, N, et al. Simultaneous infection with HIV and hepatitis C virus following occupational conjunctival blood exposure. JAMA 1998;280:28.Google Scholar
19.Bentley, M. Blood and body fluid exposures to health care workers' eyes while wearing faceshields or goggles. Adv Exposure Prev 1996;2:9.Google Scholar