Blood-borne disease

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.

See also

• Blood test
• Infectious disease
• Sharps bin
• Needlestick injury

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