Risk of professional accidental exposure to biological agents in health care workers: a retrospective analysis carried out in a southern Italian tertiary hospital.

Risk of professional accidental exposure to biological agents in health care workers: a retrospective analysis carried out in a southern Italian tertiary hospital. Infez Med. 2019 Mar 01;27(1):40-45 Authors: Bianco V, Spera AM, Maraolo AE, Parente S, Donno D, Schiano Moriello N, Tosone G Abstract Worldwide the needlestick injuries of health care workers (HCWs) still represent a major health problem. The authors aimed to evaluate the risk of HCW needlestick injuries in a tertiary university hospital in southern Italy in relation to some HCW characteristics (age, sex, professional profile, work department) and the source of infection. All HCWs of the University Hospital "Federico II" in Naples, Italy, attending the Infectious Diseases Unit after potential accidental contact to blood-borne viruses through needlestick injuries were enrolled during a 22-year period. HCWs underwent clinical analysis and were administered a specific questionnaire to collect (in anonymous fashion) data about age, sex, professional profile and work department. From 1995 to 2016 1,477 needlestick injuries in the same number of people (one accident per person) were recorded by our service. The HCWs were predominately males (n = 806, 55%) and the mean age was 39.4 years (±10.1 SD). The job categories most involved were: physicians (41%), followed by nurses (33%) and healthcare assistants (HCAs, 10%). The incidence proportion was calculated for these highest-ris...
Source: Infezioni in Medicina - Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: Infez Med Source Type: research