BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Percutaneous injuries caused by needlesticks, pose a significant risk of occupational transmission of bloodborne pathogens. Their incidence is considerably higher than current estimates, and hence a low injury rate should not be interpreted as a non existent problem. The present study was carried out to determine the occurrence of NSI among various categories of health c...

During the past 3 decades, our understanding of both the biology and epidemiology of infectious diseases has vastly improved because of methodological and technological developments. However, researchers have yet to take full advantage of the tools available to them, particularly in health care settings. Most studies of nosocomial influenza and other infections focus primarily on patients, but ...

BACKGROUND Infection control remains a key challenge for Tuberculosis (TB) control program with an increased risk of TB transmission among health care workers (HCWs), especially in settings with inadequate TB infection control measures. Poor knowledge among HCWs and inadequate infection control practices may lead to the increased risk of nosocomial TB transmission. METHODS An institution-base...

BACKGROUND More than half of all health care workers (HCWs) in high TB-incidence, low and middle income countries are latently infected with tuberculosis (TB). We determined radiological lesions in a cohort of HCWs with latent TB infection (LTBI) in India, and determined their association with demographic, occupational and T-cell immune response variables. METHODOLOGY We obtained chest radiog...

OBJECTIVE The Influenza Prevention Policy ("the Policy") aims to increase seasonal influenza vaccination coverage among British Columbia (BC) health care workers (HCWs). PARTICIPANTS HCWs who work in publicly funded facilities and attend patient care areas. SETTING The Policy was announced in August 2012 and took effect province-wide during the 2012/13 flu season. INTERVENTION BC HCWs are...

BACKGROUND Organizational changes that involve healthcare hospital departments and care services of health districts, and ongoing technological innovations and developments in society increasingly expose healthcare workers (HCWs) to work-related stress (WRS). Minimizing occupational exposure to stress requires effective risk stress assessment and management programs. METHODS The authors condu...

Health care workers (HCWs) are at increased risk for infection in outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (Ebola). To characterize Ebola in HCWs in Sierra Leone and guide prevention efforts, surveillance data from the national Viral Hemorrhagic Fever database were analyzed. In addition, site visits and interviews with HCWs and health facility administrators were conducted. As of October 31, 2014, a to...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of outbreaks of Bordetella pertussis infection on a tertiary care medical system. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING Academic tertiary care medical center and affiliated ambulatory care settings. SUBJECTS All patients and healthcare workers (HCWs) who were in close contact with patients with laboratory-confirmed cases of B. pertussis infection from October ...

BACKGROUND Influenza viruses are highly contagious. Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk of occupational exposure to influenza and may transmit the infection to their patients and coworkers. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to characterize the attitudes of HCWs regarding the use of surgical masks to prevent nosocomial influenza transmission. Furthermore, we assessed the informational nee...

BACKGROUND Hand hygiene is a major means for preventing healthcare-associated infections. One critical point in understanding poor compliance is the lack of relevant markers used to monitor practices systematically. METHODS This study analysed hand hygiene compliance and associated factors with a radio-frequency-identification-based real-time continuous automated monitoring system in an infec...