Postexposure Prophylaxis for HIV Exposed Health Care Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Lusk SL ; Robbins WA
• Description:
  A significant number of workers (more than 8 million) are employed in hospitals and other health care settings. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) (1999) estimates 600,000 to 800,000 needlestick injuries occur each year in the United States. Approximately half of these are unreported. Data from a University of Virginia database, EPINet, obtained from a number of hospitals, suggest a rate of 30 worker needlestick injuries per 100 beds per year (EPINet, 1999). Exposures to bloodbome pathogens through needlestick injuries may cause infection. The most serious of these are hepatitis B virus (HBV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). These potentially life threatening infections are preventable. A needlestick injury also causes considerable emotional distress for health care workers, their colleagues, and their families, even if no infection occurs (NIOSH, 1999). Counseling may be required to cope with these stress reactions (Armstrong, 1995). Obviously, prevention of these injuries is the number one goal, and attention has been directed to promoting use of less hazardous needles. The recently published NIOSH Alert: Preventing Needlestick Injuries in Health Care Settings (1999) contains many suggestions for prevention and a section to use as a poster or as copies to distribute to workers. Occupational and environmental health nurses responsible for health care workers are encouraged to download this Alert from the website (https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2000-108/) and use it as a guide for prevention programs. However, even by following the recommendations in the Alert, accidental injuries still will occur, and plans for management of workers exposed to HIV must be in place (McClinsey, 1999). Treatment following these injuries is the focus of the research studies reviewed in this column. The CDC issued guidelines related to postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) with antiretroviral drugs (CDC, 1996). Efficacy of the treatments is assessed in the two reports reviewed here, providing information critical to designing postexposure treatment programs. Dr. Robbins has critically reviewed these studies and, based on the results and her extensive knowledge of the field, identified implications for practice. Occupational and environmental health nurses responsible for programs related to the health and safety of health care workers will be aided by use of her suggestions and by the NIOSH Alert (1999). [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases HIV Needlestick Injuries Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Bloodborne Pathogens Health Care Workers Human Immunodeficiency Virus Needlestick Injuries Occupational Health Nursing Prophylaxis
• ISSN:
  0891-0162
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  148-151
• Volume:
  48
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058002
• Citation:
  AAOHN J 2000 Mar; 48(3):148-151
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990701
• Source Full Name:
  AAOHN Journal - American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Journal
• End Date:
  20040630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:98bd8e0569dfd6fff43c62c41c47a4c6f4e15ed82e3de944721f0783a4a8a3c052e92d2a7d0e655f79976341a7e5159d75a8c6b3a9b0a02bd71c01d7f276fa74
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215195/cdc_215195_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.68 MB ]