Accidental exposures to blood and body fluids among health care workers in a Referral Hospital of Cameroon

Abstract

BackgroundAccidental exposure to blood and body fluids is a public health concern, especially among health workers and constitutes a risk of transmission of blood-borne viruses including HIV, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and the post exposure management of accidental exposures to blood and body fluid among health workers in the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital.MethodsIt was a cross-sectional hospital-based study conducted from the 1st to the 30th of September 2013. Self-administered questionnaires to health workers were used to collect data on self-reported accidents, circumstances and post-exposure management. Their knowledge on accidental exposure to blood was also assessed. Data were entered and analyzed using Epi Info software version 3.5.4. Descriptive analysis was performed to measure the importance of AEB and to evaluate the risk of contamination.ResultsOne hundred and fifty health workers were interviewed among which 36.7 % reported having been exposed to blood and body fluid at least once in the preceding 3 months. Splash was the most reported injury (in 60.3 % of cases), followed by needle stick (28.7 %) and cuts (10.9 %). Moreover, 43.6 % of victims were not vaccinated against HBV, 7.3 % were not wearing gloves during the accident and 41 % of splash occurs on injured skin. The majority of victims belong to the surgical Department [20 %, p = 0.2310]. None of these injuries had been reported in the registry of accidental exposure to blood.ConclusionsThere is a high rate of accidental exposure to blood and body fluid in the daily hospital routine. Preventives measures, including wearing of protective equipment’s during care and vaccination against HBV are not systematically done among health workers. Health institution should develop and provide standard operating procedures targeting surveillance of occupational risks, staff training, and supervision.

Evaluation of Injuries Involving Exposure to Blood and Body Fluids Among Hospital Healthcare Workers

“…Our results are consistent with those of Kaya et al [1] , who reported that 93% of reported injuries were percutaneous, and 50.6% of these occurred during the needle recapping. In another study, the majority of exposures were mucosal contact due to splashes (60.3%), followed by needle-stick injuries (28.7%) [15] . In addition, according to our survey data, needles were the leading medical instrument causing injuries (77.55%, n=38), which corroborates the results of other similar studies.…”

“…As in numerous studies from other countries [15,18] , Bozkurt et al [7] determined that nurses were the occupational group at greatest risk of injury in Turkey. However, in our study the cleaning staff received the most injuries, similar to the findings of Merih et al [13] , followed by nurses and midwives.…”

“…In a study by Altıok et al [11] , 80% of nurses used gloves, while Merih et al [13] found that gloves were used by 57.5%. Nouetchognou et al [15] determined that 7.3% of employees exposed to blood and body fluids generally did not use gloves, and that 84.1% of those with mucosal contact due to splashes did not use protective equipment for the face or eyes. In our study, the protective equipment usage rate was 78% and the only equipment used was gloves.…”

“…According to World Health Organization estimates, the scope of immunization ranges from 18% (in Africa) to 77% (in Australia and New Zealand) [23] . In some studies, the vaccination rate has been reported as 36.6% [15] and 56% [14] . The rate of 35.11% (n=158) seen in our hospital was considered close to World Health Organization estimates and it is apparent that more extensive work is needed to ensure the eradication of HBV.…”

Magnitude of splash exposure and associated factors among health care workers in Hawassa referral and Adare District hospitals, January 2014

“…Accidental exposure to BBFs is the unintended contact with blood and or body fluids mixed with blood, during a medical intervention [5]. HCWs are at increased risk of this exposure and acquiring infections including hepatitis virus and HIV because of direct chance of exposure they have to patients blood and other body fluids [5][6][7][8][9][10].…”