Download Blood Borne Pathogens, Universal Precautions Document

UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS & BLOODBOURNE DISEASE
What are Universal Precautions?
They are personal practices that help prevent contact with blood and certain other body
fluids that may cause disease.
Universal Precaution practices are:
• Your best protection against HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, and other infectious disease;
• Procedures required in school that protect school population from contact with
anyone who may have infectious disease;
• Ways to protect others from disease that you may have.
Some facts about infectious disease & you...
BLOODBOURNE DISEASE;
HIV/AIDS Infection
Aids is caused by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), which is a virus that attacks the
body’s immune system, leaving it open to life-threatening infections and malignancies.
The virus may also directly attack the central nervous system. Persons infected with HIV
often have no apparent symptoms which make it’s transfer difficulty to predict. There is
still no cure for this illness.
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is an infection of the liver, caused by a virus present in the blood and other
body fluids of infected people. The symptoms include: fatigue, mild fever, muscles aches,
nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, and/or abdominal pain. These symptoms may not
appear up to 6 months after exposure to the virus. Our students are vaccinated against this
virus, but it is still prevalent in California.
Tuberculosis
TB affects the lungs. Symptoms include: cough, fever, weight loss, and/or chest pain.
Although treatable, this illness can be devastating due to its long course.
How these diseases are spread…
Both HIV and Hepatitis B can be spread in the following ways:
• Any direct contact of infected blood via cuts, broken skin, of bodily fluids of an
infected person;
• Receiving blood products from an infected donor;
• Having sexual contact with someone who is infected.
Tuberculosis is an airborne disease that is spread primarily through the air.
IT IS EASY TO PROTECT YOURSELF!!!
PREVENTION – There is no vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS infection. There is a safe and effective
vaccine to combat Hepatitis B.
In the school setting:
You are most likely to be exposed to HIV/AIDS infection and Hepatitis B in the school
setting when your broken skin comes into contact with the blood of an infected person,
usually when assisting with First Aid.
The law states that an infected person need not inform the school of their infection with
HIV/AIDS. It is unlikely that you will know who is infected and who is not, so good
environmental and personal protection is essential.
Utilizing Universal Precautions, proper hand-washing, and covering your mouth
when coughing or sneezing are very important and will help keep our school
community healthy.
UNIVERSAL PRECAUTION STEPS THAT WILL HELP KEEP YOU
PROTECTED…
WEAR disposable gloves whenever you will be:
• Touching any bodily fluids, particularly blood;
• Examining the mouth or assisting with dental care;
• Coming into contact with open wounds;
• Do not re-use gloves.
WASH your hands with liquid soap and running water before and after rendering First
Aid.
USE care when disposing of trash:
• Use trash containers lined with plastic trash bags;
• Hold contaminated waste in one gloved hand and use the other gloved hand to
pull glove off, surrounding the waste inside the glove. Then place both gloves in
the plastic trash bag;
• Use sharps containers for all needles;
• Use disinfectants to clean all surfaces that could be potentially soiled with blood
or other bodily fluids.
If you have any questions regarding this material, please fell free to contact your school
nurse and/or the Sonoma County Health Department, Infectious Disease Division.