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Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on July 29, 2008
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2008 52(7):615-622; doi:10.1093/annhyg/men044
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society

Determination of Risk of Infection with Blood-borne Pathogens Following a Needlestick Injury in Hospital Workers

Sabine Wicker1,2,*, Jindrich Cinatl2, Annemarie Berger2, Hans W. Doerr2, René Gottschalk2 and Holger F. Rabenau2

1 Occupational Health Service, University Hospital, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt/Main, Germany
2 Institute of Medical Virology, University Hospital, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt, Paul-Ehrlich-Strasse 40, 60596 Frankfurt/Main, Germany

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +49-69-63014511; fax: +49-69-63016385; e-mail: Sabine.Wicker{at}kgu.de

Objectives: Our paper measures the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in patients at the University Hospital of Frankfurt/Main, and correlates the prevalence with risk factors for exposure to and infection of healthcare workers (HCWs). Individual risk assessments were calculated for exposed HCWs.

Methods: Survey of patients admitted to a German University Hospital. Markers for HBV, HCV and HIV were studied and evaluated statistically. Data on needlestick injuries (NSIs) among HCWs were correlated with the prevalence of infectious patients.

Results: The HBV, HCV and HIV prevalence among patients at the University Hospital were 5.3% (n = 709/13 358), 5.8% (n = 1167/20 163) and 4.1% (n = 552/13 381), respectively. Our results indicate that the prevalence of blood-borne infections in patients was about nine times higher for HBV, ~15 times higher for HCV and ~82 times higher for HIV than in the overall German population. The highest risk of acquiring a blood-borne infection via NSI was found in the department of internal medicine due to increased prevalence of blood-borne pathogens in patients under treatment.

Conclusions: While accidental NSIs were most frequent in surgery, the nominal risk of blood-borne virus infection was greatest in the field of internal medicine. The study underlines the importance of HBV vaccinations and access to HIV-post-exposure prophylaxis for HCWs as well as the use of anti-needlestick devices.

Keywords: blood-borne viruses • healthcare workers • occupational infections

Received March 27, 2008; in final form June 19, 2008


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