Curriculum · Infection Control
Healthcare worker immunisation
What it is
A healthcare worker is exposed at work to the blood of patients. Two things follow from that: the vaccine and immunoglobulin given after an exposure, and the skin test used for TB in staff.
Causes and risk
Contact with blood from infected patients can increase the hepatitis C risk of a healthcare worker. It is one of six hepatitis C risk factors, alongside being 50 years or older, having used illegal drugs by injecting or inhaling, a tattoo or piercing received with unsterilized needles, a mother who had hepatitis C, and sharing grooming tools such as a razor, toothbrush or clippers. Two of those six carry their own line: an adult 50 years or older may have received a tainted blood transfusion, and the virus can transmit from mother to fetus during pregnancy.