Pressroom

Source: OneandOnlyCampaign.org

05/30/2012

At least 130,000 individuals have been potentially exposed to hepatitis and HIV as a result of unsafe injection practices in U.S. healthcare settings since 2001, according to a new study in Medical Care. The research cites 35 patient notification events that involved at least 17 states between 2001 and 2011. The events stem from a number of unsafe injection practices, such as reuse of syringes, mishandling of medication vials and containers, and reuse of single-dose vials. The Safe Injection Practices Coalition, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has unveiled a toolkit to help educate healthcare providers about safe injection practices. The Healthcare Provider Toolkit features a narrated PowerPoint presentation on injection safety, an injection safety checklist, posters, brochures, and a flyer about misperceptions. “Outbreaks and research studies tell us that many healthcare providers believe they follow safe injection practices, but when we look closer, they are not actually following accepted standards,” said Joe Perz, an epidemiologist at the CDC. “It is critical that all clinicians fully understand and implement CDC’s safe injection practice guidelines. Syringe reuse and related errors put patients at risk for life-threatening illnesses and must be eliminated.”