Hospitals
and health care employers in California are expected
to save over $100 million per year after implementing
the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration's
requirement for safe needle devices.
According
to the American Hospital Association, one case of
serious infection by bloodborne pathogens can soon
add up to $1 million or more in expenditures for testing
follow-up, lost time and disability payments.
The
cost of follow-up for a high-risk exposure is almost
$3,000 per needlestick injury even when no infection
occurs.
Safe
needle devices cost only a fraction more than standard
devices.
Hepatitis
B
Hepatitis
B is now preventable due to the vaccine that must
be offered to HCWs and is given to children at birth.
Regulatory
and legislative efforts were largely responsible for
the reduction of deaths from hepatitis B as a result
of vaccine programs.
Following
these regulatory and legislative efforts, including
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, cases of hepatitis
B in health care workers dropped from 17,000 annually
to 400 annually-and continue to drop.
Hepatitis
C
Testing
for hepatitis C after needlestick injuries was only
recommended in 1998. It is a silent epidemic. There
could be thousands and thousands of nurses with occupationally
acquired hepatitis C who do not know it.
Hepatitis
C is the most frequent infection resulting from needlestick
and sharps injuries. Of health care workers who become
infected, 85% become chronic carriers.
Chronic
carriers have the potential to spread the disease
to others, including their partners.
Drugs
that slow the progression of hepatitis C are available,
but average $1,700 each month.
Hepatitis
C leads to liver failure, liver transplants and liver
cancer. A liver transplant costs $500,000.
At
least 4 million Americans are infected with hepatitis
C.
HIV
Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus that causes
AIDS, a fatal disease.
Advances
in treatment prolong the time before HIV becomes AIDS.
The drug treatment can cost up to $6,000 per month.
16,000
of the 600,000 to one million needlestick injuries
each year result in HIV exposure.
There
are over 54 documented cases of HCWs with occupationally
acquired HIV and at least 133 cases of possible transmissions
of HIV.