McCormick and Maki were the first to highlight the risk of healthcare workers (HCWs) suffering harm from sharps injuries.1 Since then, there has been an increase in awareness and concern about the acquisition of blood borne pathogens through needlestick injuries, especially with the advent of HIV.2 The importance and seriousness of these infections were recently emphasized by the US Department of Labor. 3 The risk of such infections in health care workers has become a challenge because of high costs, labor incapacity, mortality and social stigmatization. With the global increase in HIV and related infections, most health institutions have in place guidelines for prevention, reporting and management of needlestick and other sharp injuries, but the enforcement of such guidelines varies from place to place, as does the response by health care workers.One of the commonest problems mitigating against proper management of sharps injuries has been the issue of non-reporting by health care workers. In a recent study of sharps injuries among Taiwanese health care workers, it was found that as many as 82% of sharps injuries were unreported.
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