The importance of blood-transmitted disease prevention with health workers

Abstract

Health workers are due to the nature of their work, when compared to general population, under greater risk from occurrence of blood-transmitted diseases. Exposure to infective and potentially infective agents carries the most common risk from infection of virus hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, and are represented as a sting on a used needle, injuries on other sharp objects, as well as contact of the mucous membrane or injured skin, with blood, tissue or body fluids which are potentially infective. Due to virus complexity, disease progress, different clinical entities, numerous complications, bad prognosis, and limited therapy possibilities, HBV, HCV and HIV infections even today represent a challenge for a vast number of experts of different profiles and specializations. According to the data of World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007. professional risk with health workers from HBV infection is 5.9%, HCV 2.6%, and from HIV infection 0.09-0.3% . .

Keywords

• health workers
• blood-transmitted diseases
• hepatitis B
• work safety
• post exposure prophylaxis