Needlesticks... Still a Major Occupational Hazard in the US
Healthcare workers in the U.S. suffer many sharps injuries -- mostly needlesticks -- each year. It has been estimated that one out of every seven workers is accidentally stuck by a contaminated sharp each and every year!
Physicians are much less likely to report a needlestick injury than other healthcare professionals. Estimates indicate that approximately only one out of three needlesticks are even reported. According to NIOSH, "Today alone over 2,100 health care professionals will incur a needlestick related injury." [NIOSH Study, 1999]
From these sharps injuries there have been 57 documented cases of HIV seroconversion among healthcare personnel through 2001. Two thousand workers a year become infected with hepatitis C, and 400 contract hepatitis B. More than 20 additional types of infectious agents have been transmitted through needlesticks, including tuberculosis, syphilis, malaria, herpes, diphtheria, gonorrhea, typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Healthcare workers in the U.S. suffer many sharps injuries -- mostly needlesticks -- each year. It has been estimated that one out of every seven workers is accidentally stuck by a contaminated sharp each and every year!
Physicians are much less likely to report a needlestick injury than other healthcare professionals. Estimates indicate that approximately only one out of three needlesticks are even reported. According to NIOSH, "Today alone over 2,100 health care professionals will incur a needlestick related injury." [NIOSH Study, 1999]
From these sharps injuries there have been 57 documented cases of HIV seroconversion among healthcare personnel through 2001. Two thousand workers a year become infected with hepatitis C, and 400 contract hepatitis B. More than 20 additional types of infectious agents have been transmitted through needlesticks, including tuberculosis, syphilis, malaria, herpes, diphtheria, gonorrhea, typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
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