Caring for Healthcare Workers: A Global Perspective

From the International Healthcare Worker Safety Center, University of Virginia Health System, University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Received December 6, 2006; accepted December 6, 2006; electronically published January 3, 2006. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2007; 28:1-4 2006 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. 0899-823X/2007/2801-0001$15.00. This issue of the journal reflects broadly upon the risks of bloodborne pathogen exposure—risks faced by healthcare workers (HCWs) everywhere. The articles cover an array of issues, including the impact of work schedules, healthcare settings, culture-specific practices, and the implementation of safety-engineered sharp devices on the occupational risk of injuries from sharp devices and blood contact. It is a fitting occasion to reflect on the state of the art in providing a safe working environment for HCWs and to consider a future path towards equitable access to its basic elements. It has been more than 2 decades since the first case of needlestick-transmitted infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; then referred to as “human T-lymphotropic virus III”) was reported in The Lancet, triggering a high alert for the exposure risk faced by HCWs. Although lifethreatening bloodborne pathogens had been a recognized risk to HCWs for at least a century, it was the epidemic of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) that delivered the wakeup call leading to remedial action. Today, infection from bloodborne pathogens, primarily HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV), remains the most lifethreatening occupational risk for HCWs. Despite this fact, we can take heart from the dramatic reduction that has occurred in the magnitude of this risk as a direct result of effective prevention initiatives during the past 20 years. It constitutes one of the remarkable success stories in the annals of public health practice. As a public health target, HCWs are usually considered to be (and treated as) a narrow subset of the general population. But globally, their numbers are large and their impact is felt everywhere. The total number of HCWs worldwide is estimated to be 35.7 million, which is greater than the population of Morocco, the 35th most populous nation in the world. HCWs provide care in every country and to every social and cultural group, in sophisticated and humble settings alike. Their global reach is matched only by the significance of their work. In all corners of the globe we depend on them for lifesustaining services. The effective assault on bloodborne pathogens that plague HCWs began with the availability of the hepatitis B vaccine in 1982. In the United States in 1983, the incidence of HBV among HCWs was 3 times higher than the incidence in the general population; by 1995, it was 5 times lower. The annual incidence fell from 386 to 9 infected HCWs per 100,000. In the early 1980s, it was estimated that more than 12,000 HCWs were occupationally infected with HBV annually, resulting in an estimated 250 deaths per year. Between 1990 and 1998, during which time high rates of HCW vaccination were achieved in the United States, only 13 cases of acute HBV infection in HCWs were reported. The advent of the hepatitis B vaccine was a major advance in preserving the health and lives of HCWs. The risk of occupational infection with HIV, although alarming, has never reached the scale of hepatitis B. As of 1997, a total of 94 documented and 170 possible cases of occupational HIV infection had been identified worldwide; nearly two-thirds of cases were reported from the United States. Since then, 15 more documented cases have been identified. However, most countries, especially those with a high population prevalence of HIV infection, have never instituted surveillance systems that would capture data on such cases. Although the development of an AIDS vaccine still eludes us, new treatments for HIV infection appear to have had an appreciable impact on the risk of occupational exposure and infection. In 1997, it was shown that postexposure prophylaxis with zidovudine alone after occupational blood exposure to HIV reduced the risk of seroconversion by more than 80%. Combination antiretroviral drug regimens, introduced in 1997, are believed to be even more effective at preventing seroconversion in HIV-exposed individuals. Combination treatment has altered the risk equation for HCWs in other ways, as well. Shortly after these drugs became widely available in 1997, there was a precipitous drop in the number of HIV-positive in-patients in US hospitals. The risk of HCWs being exposed to HIV dropped in direct proportion to the decline in the number of HIV-infected patients in hospitals. Furthermore, a low viral load, which is common in patients receiving combination drug therapies, is associated with reduced transmission risk when an occupational exposure to