Difference between revisions of "Blood-borne disease"
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Latest revision as of 20:31, 20 September 2010
A blood-borne disease is one that can be spread by contamination by blood.
The most common examples are HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and viral hemorrhagic fevers.
Diseases that are not usually transmitted directly by blood contact, but rather by insect or other vector, are more usefully classified as vector-borne disease, even though the causative agent can be found in blood. Vector-borne diseases include West Nile virus and malaria.
Many blood-borne diseases can also be transmitted by other means.
Since it is difficult to determine what pathogens any given blood contains, and some blood-borne diseases are lethal, standard medical practice regards all blood (and any body fluid) as potentially infective. Blood and Body Fluid precautions are a type of infection control practice that seeks to minimize this sort of disease transmission. Blood poses the greatest threat to health in a laboratory or clinical setting due to needle disposal techniques.
Blood for blood transfusion is screened for many blood-borne diseases.
Needle exchanges are an attempt to reduce the spread of blood-borne diseases in intravenous drug users. One of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent disease transmission is hand washing.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ "CPR course descriptions". CPR Long Island. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
External links
- Selected EPA-registered Disinfectants - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard (BBPS)
- Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention, from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Antimicrobials Information - National Pesticide Information Center
- Professor Andrew Speilman, Entomologist, Harvard School of Hygiene and Public Health Freeview Malaria video by the Vega Science Trust.
- Rob Hutchinson, Entomolgoist, Mosquitoes London School of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases. Freeview video by the Vega Science Trust.
- http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/bp.html
- NIOSH Bloodborne Infectious Diseases Topic Page
