An Overview :Needlestick Injury

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, 1999) reported
that the rate of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) transmission to susceptible HCW ranges
from 6% to 30% after a single needlestick exposure to an HBV-infected patient.

Prospective studies of HCW exposed to Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) through
needlestick, or other percutaneous injuries, have found that the incidence of anti-
HCV seroconversion averages 1.8% (range 0% to 7%) per injury.

Currently, there is no vaccine in existence to prevent HCV infection, and neither immunoglobulin nor
antiviral therapy is recommended as post exposure prophylaxis. For Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, the average risk of post needlestick
exposure to HIV-infected blood is 0.3% or 1 in 300 (CDC 1991).

Introduction (2) Needlestick Injury Issue In Malaysia

Greeting to all,
Do you know..?

That the most common form of injuries among health care workers (HCW) are needle stick injuries.In Malaysia,the Occupational Health Unit in the Ministry of Health had reported an incidence rate of 4.7 needlestick injuries per 1000 HCW's in 2005.
With outgrowing number of patients,limited time and ascending workload,we can make early hypothesis whether this statistic will increase in number or not.
In short, almost in everything we do,with conscience or not,the hazard is there.For instance,as a healthcare worker,most of them are exposed to the risk of getting needlestick injury.

Introduction On Needlestick Injury Issue in Malaysia

Greeting to all,

Before going deeper,there is a few abbreviation or terms that must be mastered in order to make the process of understanding what it is all about more easier..
They say you can't fall in love without knowing the person right?Same goes with the learning process:)

ABBREVIATION
HCW                 Health Care Workers
EPP                   Exposure Prone Procedures
PEP                   Post Exposure Prophylaxis
HIV                   Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HBV                  Hepatitis B Virus
Anti-HBs           Hepatitis B Surface Antigen
HBIG                Hepatitis B Immune Globulin
HCV                 Hepatitis C Virus
HCV RNA       Hepatitis C Virus Ribonucleic Acid
PCR                 Polymerase Chain Reaction
FMS                 Family Medicine Specialist