%0 Journal Article
%T Percutaneous injuries among dental professionals in Washington State
%A Syed M Shah
%A Anwar T Merchant
%A James A Dosman
%J BMC Public Health
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2458-6-269
%X We used workers' compensation claims submitted to the Department of Labor and Industries State Fund during a 7-year period (1995 through 2001) in Washington State for this study. We used the statement submitted by the injured worker on the workers' compensation claim form to determine the circumstances surrounding the injury including the type of activity and device involved.Of a total of 4,695 accepted State Fund percutaneous injury claims by health care workers (HCWs), 924 (20%) were submitted by dental professionals. Out of 924 percutaneous injuries reported by dental professionals 894 (97%) were among dental health care workers in non-hospital settings, including dentists (66, 7%), dental hygienists (61, 18%) and dental assistants (667, 75%). The majority of those reporting were females (638, 71%). Most (781, 87%) of the injuries involved syringes, dental instruments (77, 9%), and suture needles (23%). A large proportion (90%) of injuries occurred in offices and clinics of dentists, while remainder occurred in offices of clinics and of doctors of medicine (9%), and a few in specialty outpatient facilities (1%). Of the 894 dental health care workers with percutaneous injuries, there was evidence of HBV in 6 persons, HCV in 30 persons, HIV in 3 persons and both HBV and HVC (n = 2) exposure.Out of hospital percutaneous injuries are a substantial risk to dental health professionals in Washington State. Improved work practices and safer devices are needed to address this risk.Percutaneous injury is one of the major risk factors in the transmission of hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) [1,2]. HCV is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis [3], and to date there is no protective vaccine against HCV. Thus, it is crucial to develop an effective strategy to monitor and manage needlestick injuries (NSIs) among health care workers.National and international guidelines, such as the Needlestick Safety Act in 2001 were develo
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/269