Exposure to blood or body fluids: management for health care

Health care workers are at risk of exposure to blood and body fluids from their patients through needlestick injuries or contamination of mucous membranes - a slash of blood in the eye, for example. Exposure to blood /body fluids is now the second biggest cause of occupational injury among NHS workers (UNISON, 2003). The first example of a case of occupational exposure of a health care worker to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and subsequent seroconversion following a needlestick injury was reported in the 1980s. This incident raised awareness of the risk that health care workers face when they are exposed to blood-borne viruses, in particular hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.