Blood-borne occupational exposure and protection in medical staff of a traditional Chinese medicine hospital

Abstract

Objective: To investigate blood-borne occupational exposure and related protection in the medical staff of a traditional Chinese medicine hospital, and to provide a reference for reducing the risk of blood-borne occupational exposure. Methods: Forty-eight medical workers with blood-borne occupational exposure in 2015 were selected to analyze the incidence of blood-borne occupational exposure, influencing factors, operations that caused blood-borne occupational exposure, pathogens, and occupational protection. Results: The incidence rate of blood-borne occupational exposure in the medical staff of the traditional Chinese medicine hospital in 2015 was 3.30% (48/1 455) , and the frequency was 0.04 time/person/year. The workers with blood-borne occupational exposure were mostly nurses, females, workers aged <30 years, workers with <5 working years, and workers with a junior professional title. There was a significant difference in the incidence rate of blood-borne occupational exposure between workers with different ages and working years. The main way of blood-borne occupational exposure was sharp injury (96.08%) . The main operations that caused blood-borne occupational exposure were covering or separating the syringe needle after injection and disposing used sharp instruments. The main exposure site was the hand (96.08%) , with the thumb and index finger for the left hand and the middle finger and index finger for the right hand; there was no significant difference in the exposure site distribution between the two hands (P<0.05) . The main pathogen that caused blood-borne occupational exposure was hepatitis B virus (68.96%) . The rate of correct local treatment for blood-borne occupational exposure was 88.24%. The rate of prophylactic medication was 74.51%, and hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) plus hepatitis B vaccine was the main way, followed by HBIG. In all workers with blood-borne occupational exposure, 62.74% did not wear gloves. Conclusion: The medical workers with few working years have a high risk of blood-borne occupational exposure, so the training on protection against blood-borne occupational exposure should be strengthened to reduce the risk of blood-borne occupational exposure and infection.