Risk of infection from needle reuse at a phlebotomy center

T.C. Porco, T.J. Aragón, S.E. Fernyak, S.H. Cody, D.J. Vugia, M.H. Katz and D.R. Bangsberg

American Journal of Public Health, 2001, vol. 91, issue 4, 636-638

Abstract: Objectives. This study determined infection risk for HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) from needle reuse at a phlebotomy center that possibly exposed 3810 patients to infection. Methods. We used a model for the risk of infection per blood draw, supplemented by subsequent testing results from 1699 patients. Results. The highest risk of transmission was for HBV infection: 1.1 × 10-6 in the best case and 1.2 × 10-3 in the (unlikely) worst case. Subsequent testing yielded prevalence rates of 0.12%, 0.41%, and 0.88% for HIV, HBV, and HCV, respectively, lower than National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III prevalence estimates. Conclusions. The infection risk was very low; few, if any, transmissions are likely to have occurred.

Date: 2001
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:2001:91:4:636-638_3

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