Needlestick Injuries

Any sharp object that comes in contact with a patient's body fluids may carry infection, so health care workers are at risk of getting an infection such as hepatitis or HIV (the AIDS virus).

Follow the links below to find information about needlestick injuries.

Created October 2007

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8 Resources Found
Results 1 to 8 displayed.
Title:   HIV and AIDS - infection control in hospitals
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   Hospitals follow strict infection control guidelines to prevent the spread of HIV to patients. This includes disposing of needles and syringes after one use and sterilising instruments after every use.
Date:   Sep 2008
Title:   Accidental needle stick injury in public places
Publisher:   Queensland Health
Description:   In the community setting, a needle stick injury usually arises from the accidental puncturing of the skin by a syringe needle left in places such as in parks, playgrounds, laneways or public toilets. Sometimes, when people are walking in these public areas they accidentally step on a needle left there by somebody else. When a person suffers a needle stick injury, there is usually some anxiety and distress. This is a natural response when thoughts of potential blood borne infections such as HIV, hepatitis B and C occur. However, the risk of catching a serious infection as a result of an accidental needle stick injury is very low. This is because these viruses do not survive for long outside of the body. Most community needle stick injuries involve needles that have been discarded for some time.
Date:   Apr 2008
Title:   Antiretroviral post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for occupational HIV exposure
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration
Description:   This review evaluated the effects of antiretroviral post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for preventing HIV infection following occupational exposure. No randomized controlled trials were identified. Only one case-control study provides evidence for using zi...
Date:   Nov 2006
Title:   Needlestick injury
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   A needlestick injury means the skin is accidentally punctured by a used needle. Blood-borne diseases that could be transmitted by such an injury include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV).
Date:   Oct 2006
Title:   Retractable needle and syringe technology initiative
Publisher:   Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
Description:   This page contains the 2005-2006 Budget announcement regarding the Retractable Needle and Syringe Technology Initiative.
Date:   Dec 2005
Title:   Attention cleaners - your safety is important
Publisher:   Multicultural Health Communication Service (NSW)
Description:   How to deal with needles, sharps bins and what to do when an accident occurs.
Date:   Feb 2004
Title:   Needle-stick injuries in primary care
Publisher:   Australian Prescriber
Description:   Needle-stick injuries in health-care workers are almost completely preventable by improving workplace practices, but when they do occur the consequences for the individual can be serious, regardless of the outcome in terms of infection.
Date:   Aug 2001
Title:   Hepatitis C: the facts - understanding is the answer
Publisher:   Multicultural Health Communication Service (NSW)
Description:   This flyer about hepatitis C describes symptoms, long term effects, how it is spread, prevention, treatment and discrimination.
Date:   Jan 2000
Results 1 to 8 displayed.