Improper infection-control practices during employee vaccination programs--District of Columbia and Pennsylvania,...

The improper use of needles and syringes and contamination of multidose medication vials can result in transmission of bloodborne pathogens (e.g., hepatitis B virus [HBV] and human immunodeficiency virus [HIV]) and other infectious agents from patient to patient. Since September 1993, CDC has received reports from health-care providers and public health departments in two U.S. cities regarding improper infection-control practices during vaccination of employees at worksite vaccination programs. These practices could potentially have exposed vaccine recipients to infectious agents. This report summarizes the preliminary findings of an ongoing investigation of these reports.