Needle stick injury and health care workers: Scenario at GMC Akola, Maharashtra Gedam Dilip1, Kilikdar Mousumi2,*, Ambhore Nitin1 1Associate Professor, Dept. of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Akola, Maharashtra, India 2Assistant Professor, Dept. of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Akola, Maharashtra, India *Corresponding Author: Email: drmousumikilikdar@gmail.com
Online published on 14 January, 2019. Abstract Introduction Needle stick injuries are the most common occupational hazard for health care workers as well as they carry the highest risk of transmission of various blood borne infections. The greatest menace are hepatitis B and hepatitis C followed by HIV. The present study was carried out to determine the incidence of needle stick injury (NSI) among the health care workers (HCWs) and also the efficacy of preventive strategy. Materials and Methods This study was conducted at ICTC-1 (Voluntary counselling and testing centre), Department of Microbiology, GMC Akola which is a 600 bedded, tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra, India. The study was carried out over two and half years from April 2015 to October 2017 on various HCWs. Data was collected from ICTC-1 and follow up of patient was done up to 6 months. Biomedical waste (BMW) management workshops and training were also conducted every 6 months. Results A total of 318 HCWs who were exposed to NSI visited ICTC-1. The highest rate was found among intern doctors (31.44%) and waste handlers (29.87%) followed by student nurses (20.44%), staff sister/brother (11.32%), laboratory technician (5%) and senior doctors (1.88%). There has been increased reporting and awareness among the HCWs due to the regular workshops and training programmes for BMW management. Conclusion A lot needs to be done to reduce the burden of NSI. Substitution of needles with safe, newer devices, adequate training of health care workers regarding safe use and disposal of needles, post exposure prophylaxis, vaccination (Hepatitis B) might change the scenario. Top Keywords Needle stick injury, Waste disposal, Biomedical waste management, Occupational health hazards. Top |