Bloodborne pathogens

Definition

A pathogen is something that causes disease. Germs that can have a long-lasting presence in human blood and disease in humans are called bloodborne pathogens.

The most common and dangerous germs spread through blood in the hospital are:

You can be infected with HBV, HCV, or HIV if you are stuck with a needle or other sharp object that has touched the blood or bodily fluids of a person who has one of these infections.

These infections can also spread if infected blood or bloody bodily fluids touch mucous membranes or an open sore or cut. Mucous membranes are the moist parts of your body, such as in your eyes, nose, and mouth.

HIV can also spread from one person to another through fluid in your joints or spinal fluid. And it can spread through semen, fluids in the vagina, breast milk, and the fluid that surrounds a baby in the womb (amniotic fluid).

Alternative Names

Bloodborne infections

More About Hepatitis and HIV infections

HEPATITIS

HIV

After someone is infected with HIV, the virus stays in their body. It slowly harms or destroys their immune system. Your body's immune system fights disease and helps you heal. When it is weakened by HIV, you are more likely to get sick from other infections, including ones that would not normally make you sick. Without treatment, almost everyone who is infected by HIV will die due to their weak immune system.

Treatment can help people with all of these infections.

Hepatitis B can be prevented by a vaccine. There is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C or HIV.

What to Do If You are Exposed

If you are stuck with a needle, get blood in your eye, or are exposed to any bloodborne pathogen:

You may or may not need lab tests, a vaccine, or medicines.

Preventing Hepatitis and HIV Infections in the Hospital

Isolation precautions create barriers between people and germs. They help prevent the spread of germs in the hospital.

Follow standard precautions with all people.

When you are near or are handling blood, bodily fluids, body tissues, mucous membranes, or areas of open skin, you must use personal protective equipment (PPE). Depending on the exposure, you may need:

It is also important to properly clean up afterward.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Bloodborne infectious diseases: HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C. www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/bbp. Updated May 12, 2023. Accessed October 25, 2023.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Disinfection and sterilization. www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection/index.html. Updated May 24, 2019. Accessed October 25, 2023.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Isolation precautions. www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/isolation/index.html. Updated July 11, 2023. Accessed October 25, 2023.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Viral hepatitis: frequently asked questions for the public. www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/bfaq.htm. Updated March 9, 2023. Accessed October 26, 2023.

Weld ED, Shoham S. Epidemiology, prevention, and management of occupational exposure to bloodborne infections. In: Cameron JL, Cameron AM, eds. Current Surgical Therapy. 14th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:1486-1491.


Review Date: 10/13/2023
Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
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