Occupational exposure of health care workers to blood and body fluids in West Shewa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2018: A cross-sectional study

Background: Health care workers are susceptible to acquiring blood and body fluids borne infections due to their occupations involving contact with patients and their body fluids, although studies conducted in Ethiopia are scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the magnitude of exposure to blood and body fluids among health care workers in governmental health facilities in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.Materials and methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 19 to June 25, 2018. A total of 381 health care workers were selected by simple random sampling from 31 sampled governmental health facilities using proportional to size allocation. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires, entered into Epi-info version 7, and analyzed by SPSS version 21. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) calculated for variables retained in the multivariable logistic regression and significance declared at p<0.05.Results: Of 377 health care workers who participated, the study found that 233 (61.2%) were exposed to blood and body fluids in their lifetime. Previous needle stick injury (AOR=0.30; 95%CI: 0.12-0.75), type of health facility (AOR=0.42; 95%CI: 0.26-0.68), handwashing practice (AOR=0.15; 95%CI: 0.07, 0.31), and perceiving at risk (AOR=0.16; 95%CI: 0.03, 0.98) were protective factors whereas long work experience (AOR=1.47; 95%CI: 1.13-1.93) was a risk factor for the exposure.Conclusions: Exposures to blood and body fluids during patient care were common among health care workers in the study area. Therefore, health care workers especially those newly hired and working in hospitals should pay due attention to their occupation's safety and regularly practice hand washing during critical times.

Hepatitis B, C, and HIV Infections among blood Donors at Several Hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan

The study's objectives are to find out the frequency of hepatitis C, B, and HIV infection among blood donors at different hospitals of Lahore; to understand the relationship of demographic risk factors contributing to the positive cases of hepatitis C, B, and HIV. A cross-sectional study with random sampling in which 200 blood donors participated. A questionnaire was used to record the social and personal practices. A small percentage of blood donors have a history of jaundice. More than one-fourth had undergone surgical intervention, and more than one-third had suffered a needle stick injury. The vast majority had a history of I/V injections/drips, tooth extraction/dental operations, or both. 10.5% of blood donors were Anti-HBV positive, 12.5% were Anti-HCV positive, and 0.5% were HIV positive. Shaving from community barbers should be avoided. In addition, to overcome hepatitis B, C, and HIV transmission, health education programs should be held among blood donors and the general public to prevent them from infection.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices towards Needle Stick Injuries among Students and Staff in a Tertiary Medical Centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Background: Needle stick injuries are one of the greatest fears that revolves around the health care workers all over the world, and the majority of them are avoidable by following proper precautionary methods in handling the devices. Even though, by following the precautionary methods, a few accidents may happen a few times and thus resulting in a needle stick injury. The aim of our study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards Needle stick injuries among students and staff in a tertiary medical centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu , India Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude, practices about needle stick injuries among students and staff in a tertiary medical centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Saveetha Medical College and Hospital. Our study included students and staff of the institution, irrespective of their age and sex. Data collection was carried out using a standardized questionnaire. Results: 62.1% of the participants know the last universal precaution guidelines of needle stick injuries management. 83.3% are fully vaccinated with anti-HBV.70.9% always use gloves when deal with needles. 14.3% had Needle stick Injury. 40.9% strongly believe that needle stick injury can be prevented. Since adequate awareness is created by the institution, participants in this study have higher knowledge, attitude and practices when compared to reference studies.

A Study of Needle Stick Injuries among Nursing College Students in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu

Introduction: Needle stick injuries (NSIs) are the most potential occupational hazards among nursing personnel with possible transmission of blood borne pathogens. As nursing students are in the learning stage, they might be at higher risk of acquiring the injuries.Objectives: Todetermine the prevalence of needle stick injuries and to assess the awareness, attitude and practices followed with regard to NSIs.Methodology: An online cross-sectional study was conducted from October to December 2020 among 175 students in a nursing college in Chengalpattu district Tamil Nadu, using a pretested semi- structured questionnaire, adopting universal sampling technique. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. Categorical variables were summarized as Percentages and chi square test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of needle stick injury among nursing college students was 16%.Final year studentsweremore exposed to the injuries(35.7%). Majority (96.57%) of the students were aware about universal precaution guidelines, 57% of students were aware about the diseases transmitted by NSI, 97.71% were aware about safety devices and 67.43% of students were aware about the post-exposure prophylaxis in management of NSIs.Among the students, 71.43% had used gloves regularly, 72% were immunized against Hepatitis B, only 25.71% of students attended Integrated Counselling Testing Centre(ICTC) and more than half of the students always practiced recapping needle after giving injections. Conclusion: Majority of the students in this study were aware about NSIs, their attitude towards NSIs was agreeable. The practices reported though assessed through online survey was found to be deficient.Periodic education and training need to be done to avoid injuries in future.

Occupational blood exposure beyond needle stick injuries: hospital-based cross-sectional study among healthcare workers in governmental hospitals of Northern Ethiopia

Background Occupational blood exposure is one of the major public health problems that healthcare workers (HCWs) are encountering. Most previous occupational blood exposure studies are delimited to needle stick injury, which could underestimate the real level of blood exposure. On the other hand, others deal with crude blood and body-fluids exposure, which possibly overestimate the magnitude of blood exposure. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the prevalence of occupational blood exposure and identifying associated factors among HCWs in the Southern Tigrai zone governmental hospitals of Northern Ethiopia considering all the potential means of blood exposure (needle stick injury, sharp medical equipment injury, and blood splash) while excluding blood-free body-fluids. Methods A hospital based cross-sectional study design was employed to gather data from randomly selected HCWs in three governmental hospitals from February to March, 2020. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify the independent factors associated with the outcome variable. Results From the total of 318 HCWs, 148 (46.5 %) were exposed to blood at least once in their lifetime. Working for more than 40 h per week (AOR= 9.4; 95 % CI: 7.61, 11.41), lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) (AOR=3.88; 95 % CI: 1.64, 5.42), Hepatitis B virus vaccination (AOR=0.54; 95 % CI: 0.12,0.78), recapping used needle sticks (AOR=3.18; 95 % CI: 1.28, 8.83), and lack of infection prevention and patient safety (IPPS) training (AOR=13.5; 95 % CI: 8.12,19.11) were detected to significantly increase the likelihood of occupational blood exposure. Conclusions As nearly half of the HCWs were exposed to blood, reducing work load below 40 h per week by employing additional staff members, supplying adequate PPE, avoiding recapping of used needle sticks, and providing IPPS training for the HCWs should be practiced.

Prevalence, student nurses’ knowledge and practices of needle stick injuries during clinical training: a cross-sectional survey

Background The incidence of needle stick injuries is higher among nurses with a low level of knowledge on the prevention of needle stick injury, and who have not received the relevant training during their undergraduate study. The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge of the prevention guidelines and the prevalence of needle stick injury among students in Oman. Methods An online cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire and involving 167 students from a governmental university was conducted. The questionnaire consists of 30 questions; eight general questions, knowledge related questions, and questions about risk factors, prevention measures, and actions in a case of needle stick injury. Ethical approval was obtained and the link to the survey was shared with students using their university email portal. Results Of the participants, 81.2% were females; mean age was 23.3 (SD = 4.5) years. The mean total knowledge score was 6.6 out of 10 (SD = 2.1). In addition, 18.2% (n = 32) of the students experienced needle stick injury. Most of the injuries 71.9% (n = 24) occurred during medication preparation and administration. The main cause of NSI as reported by students was recapping the needles (59%, n = 19). Conclusions This study demonstrates that student nurses have a moderate level of knowledge about needle stick injury prevention measures and lack many facets of safe infection control practice. These findings require the collaborative effort of nursing administrators from both academic and clinical areas, to develop effective strategies to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of needle stick injury.

307 Awareness and Reporting of Needle Stick Injury Amongst Junior Doctors in a General Surgery Department

Introduction This audit was performed to see if a new cohort of junior doctors in a general surgery department had received legally required sharps injury training, assess knowledge on what to do if a needle stick/splash injury were to occur; and to provide necessary training. Method Questionnaires about trust needle stick policy training including current job grade, awareness of general principles, reporting of previous needle stick injuries and barriers to reporting of needle stick injuries were filled in. Training was provided on needle free devices and trust needle stick/splash injury protocol. After training, a second questionnaire was filled in to see if there was better understanding of the trust protocol and the necessary steps after injury. The same group of junior doctors were re-audited at a later date to see if the knowledge gained from training had been retained. Results All junior doctors (total of 11) in general surgery reported receiving no formal needle stick/splash training since starting at the trust on the trust policy and no formal induction on needle-free devices and what to do in the event of a needle stick injury since starting at the trust. All doctors felt aware of what to do after training provided with time pressures being identified as a barrier for not reporting all needle stick injuries. Re-audit one month later demonstrated all doctors had awareness of the trusts needle stick/splash injury protocol. Conclusions The training provided was effective in providing legally required training and improving staff and patient safety.

Needle Stick Injury by Aqueous Humor of a 31 Year Old PCR-Positive HIV Patient, a Case Report

Background Health worker Needle-stick injury (NSI) by internal body fluids can transmit serious pathogens like HIV. Considering Principles of personal and occupational care, plays an important role in prevention of such events. Case presentation A health worker suffered needle stick injury by aqueous humor of a PCR-positive HIV patient while he was recapping needle despite necessary preparations. Conclusions NSI by Aqueous humor which is secreted from blood, can theoretically transmit blood borne pathogens like HIV. Nevertheless, there is neither any report of aqueous humor NSI nor HIV transmission in this way. Based on our best knowledge this case is the first report represents HIV+ aqueous humor NSI and further evidence is required. Considering literature, we can not conclude whether there was a need for PEP in our case.