When children sustain injuries from needles discarded in public places, concerns arise about possible exposure to blood-borne viruses. The risk of infection is low, but assessment, counselling and follow-up of the injured child are needed. The present document reviews the literature concerning blood-borne viral infections after injuries from needles discarded in the community, and provides reco...

Objectives: This study investigated the knowledge, awareness and practices of health care workers towards universal precautions at the University Hospital of the West Indies. The study also examined the prevalence of injuries experienced by health care workers, as well as incidence of accidents and compliance with post-exposure prophylaxis. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey was co...

BACKGROUND Mortuary workers like other health workers are exposed to blood borne pathogens at work. A baseline assessment is important to plan for programmes to safeguard the health of workers. The aim of this study is to determine exposure rates to blood among mortuary workers in teaching hospitals in South West Nigeria. METHODS A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out between Mar...

Introduction: Needle Stick and Sharp Injuries (NSSIs) are the commonest rout by which blood borne infections such as HIV, HBV and HCV can transmit. Such infections serve as high occupational risks and threats to health professionals. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of Needle stick and sharp injuries and associated factors among nurses working in Jimma University Special...

Results Of the 118 needle stick injuries reported during the surveillance period 47 (40%) were nurses, 25 (21%) were lab technicians, 24 (20%) were doctors, 20 (17%) were housekeeping staff and 2(2%) were other staffs. Hollow bore needle constituted 80.1% (95) of the injuries, solid needles constituted 16.5% (19) of the injuries and other sharps constituted 3.4% (4) of the injuries. On source a...

BACKGROUND Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids is a serious concern for health care workers, and presents a major risk for the transmission of infections such as HIV and hepatitis viruses. The objective of this study was to investigate occupational exposures and behavior of health care workers (HCWs) in eastern Ethiopia. METHODS We surveyed 475 HCWs working in 10 hospitals and 20 h...

BACKGROUND Penetrating injuries of the perineum are rare but very dangerous. Since the genitourinary and colorectal organs may be injured, how to evaluate surgical management of the injury is very important. METHODS The present report presents a case of penetrating injury of the perineum by a wooden stick when the patient fell on the upright wooden stick from a tree. The three feet long stick...

BACKGROUND Working in health care carries the risk of transmission of infected blood to patients by hospital workers and to other health personnel in the form of occupational infections. Conscientious application of the standard precautions is the main method used to avoid needle stick injuries, contamination of skin and mucous membranes, cuts with sharp tools, and inadequate disposal and recap...

This study assessed protective effects of a continuous introduction of safe instruments in terms of reduction of needle stick injuries. The retrospective study analyzed correlations between the increasing proportion of safe instruments and a reduction of the incidence of needle stick injuries linked to such instruments in a German university hospital over 5 years. Incidents declined about 17.6%...