A 5-year surveillance of occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens in a university teaching hospital in Monterrey, Mexico

Background: Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens (OEBPs) is a serious health and safety concern for health care providers. Lack of experience of medical personal in training could make them more susceptible for acquiring infections by these infectious agents.

Methods: We conducted a 5-year retrospective review of all reported occupational exposures. Characteristics, risk factors, and management of the accidents were obtained from OEBP database.

Results: A total of 951 events were analyzed, and 94.3% occurred in medical personnel in training; of those, 87.4% were percutaneous injuries. The emergency room was the hospital ward with more events recorded (34.1%), followed by the internal medicine and surgical wards. A hollow needle was used in 59.1% of the events, a suture needle in 10.7%, and a lancet in 8.8%. Most of events were recorded in the morning shift (38.3%). The months with fewer reports of events were January, July, and December, and the months with the highest reports were the combined months of October 2006 through 2011.

Conclusion: A high incidence of OEBP in medical personnel in training was detected; this high frequency correlates with the dynamics of the student population during the year and the hands on practice that the nursing and medical students receive.