Occupational Exposure to Blood among Healthcare Workers in National Capital Territory of Delhi

Abstract

A cross-sectional study on occupational exposure to blood (OEB) among healthcare workers (HCWs) revealed that out of 416 HCWs a total of 139 HCWs encountered 174 OEBs during preceding 6 months, either in the form of high-risk OEBs (OEB-HR, n=101) or potentially risky OEBs (OEB-PR, n=73) with an occurrence rate of 0.49 and 0.35 per person year respectively. The occurrence of OEB-HR was found to be the highest among nurses followed by residents and interns although occurrence of OEB-PR was found to be the highest among laboratory technicians. The occurrence rate of OEB was found to decrease with increasing duration of working experience. Coverage of immunization against HBV and training on safety precautions were less among HCWs with shorter duration of experience. Manipulation of needle or sharp was the major type of activity associated with both OEB-HR and OEB-PR (48.5% and 60.3% respectively) while fatigue was mainly considered by the HCWs to be responsible for the subgroup of exposures in both categories that were unrelated to adherence to safety precautions. Seroconversion for HBV (HBsAg) was recorded in two exposures (one each OEB-HR and OEB-PR categories), both in private setting, from sources with unknown serostatus. The present study points out the need for due recognition of the risk involved in exposure of intact skin to blood in healthcare, expansion of HBV vaccination coverage and mandatory training on standard precautions in healthcare at the entry point in their profession.