Welcome to Bloodborne Pathogens Training, offered by the Executive Offices, Office of Human Resources

This training is for all Executive Office employees and can be used for personal safety as well as safety in the workplace. This web-based training will provide information on bloodborne pathogens. The training will cover an overview of bloodborne diseases, their health effects and symptoms, certain precautions to take, and what to do after exposure.
To define bloodborne diseases, it is a disease that causes microorganisms living and breeding in blood or bodily fluids.
Some bloodborne diseases include the human immunodeficiency virus, the hepatitis B virus, and the hepatitis C virus.
Let’s take a moment to provide more health information on each disease. HIV attacks the body’s immune system and leads to AIDS. There is no cure or vaccine for this disease and to this day, treatment is still limited. It is estimated that there are roughly 1 million people in the US living with HIV as of 2008.
HIV/AIDs causes the degradation of the body’s immune system, but it does not affect everyone the same.
Some of the most common symptoms are:

· Reoccuring flu-like symptoms

· Loss of appetite/rapid weight loss

· Swollen lymphoid glands

· Skin blotches and sores

HIV/AIDs is very fragile outside the bloodstream and will die if exposed to air or water. HIV/AIDs is commonly spread through unprotected sexual activity and the sharing of needles. The disease spreads through body fluids such as blood, semen & vaginal secretions, and breast milk.
Common misconceptions regarding the spread of the disease are:

· Shared air

· Insect bites

· Saliva, tears, or sweat

· Casual bodily contact such as shaking hands or hugging

· Closed mouth kissing

The next virus is the hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis is Latin for inflammation of the liver. Current estimates are that .8-1.4 million Americans are infected. This disease is far more common than HIV/AIDs because of its resiliency, surviving 7 days outside the body. The spread of HBV has decreased due to vaccination programs.
Symptoms can occur within 3 months, much later, or not at all in some cases. These symptoms can include.

· Constant fatigue

· Stomach pain

· Darkened urine

· Jaundice, which is the discoloring of body tissue typically resulting in the “yellowing” of the skin and eyes

The HBV infection can cause chronic liver damage leading to cirrhosis of the liver. Eventually, this can lead to liver failure and death.
HBV contaminates blood, semen and vaginal fluids, mucous, and materials that are exposed to blood or those bodily fluids. Routes of exposure include contaminated needles, unprotected sex, cuts or wounds caused by HBV contaminated material, or direct contact with cuts or open sores.
The last disease covered in this training is the Hep C Virus or HCV. This is the most common bloodborne infection, with an estimated 3.2 million Americans carrying the disease. 10% of new cases are a result of occupational exposure. Though the disease is treatable, there is no vaccine or cure. HCV’s symptoms and routes of exposure are similar to HBV.
How you can help prevent infection is to first and foremost treat everything as if it is infected.

· Always wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE)

· Always wash and decontaminate exposed body parts and areas

· Use proper disposal methods for waste

· “Sharps” and contaminated “sharps”

· Specific biohazard waste disposal, separate from standard trash

· If exposed, report exposure and get tested.

If you come in contact with any of the following materials, always meet them with universal precautions:

· Blood

· Saliva/Mucus

· Vomit

· Urine

· Semen or vaginal fluid

· Lacerated skin tissue, cell cultures

· Feces

· Any materials that were in contact with the previous examples

Remember the routes of exposure for bloodborne pathogens:

• Direct “Blood to Contaminated Blood” contact via cut, scrap, exposed sore, or puncture wound. This is most commonly passed during sexual contact, contaminated needle use, or within the health care/medical research sectors.
• Mucous membrane exposure to blood or bodily fluids. Mucous Membrane refers to eyes, mouth, interior nose, etc.

Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, is the best way to prevent exposure. (click)

• Medical gloves, typically Latex or Nitrile
• CPR mouth barrier/guard
• Goggles
• Face shield
• Coveralls/Tyvek Suit

At the very minimum, medical gloves and a mouth barrier should be worn.
Within your postion at the Commonwealth, you may be responsible for clean-up. We will discuss necessary steps to take to reduce risk of exposures. First, evaluate the area. Look for sharp objects, isolate these materials with a broom and dust pan. Never use your hands. Second, ensure you wear the PPE. Prepare a 1:10 bleach to water solution for clean-up. Next, wipe area with a disposable paper towel or rag and dispose of these in a biohazard waste bag/container. Pour bleach solution or disinfectant on the contaminated area, and let sit for 20 minutes. Make sure that the solution does not “run”, a containment zone of absorbent material such as kitty litter is helpful with controlling this. Finally, clean up the area and ensure all materials are disposed of in a biohazard/waste bag/container.
Once an area has been decontaminated, you will need to ensure personal decontamination occurs. Inspect your body for any contamination. Wash and disinfect the exposed areas immediately. To ensure decontamination, do so for 5 to 10 minutes. Always wash your hands, even if PPE was worn.
Biohazard signs will be placed on containers or substances to identify that they hold hazardous biological waste. Always use extreme caution when interacting with containers with this label and always wear PPE.
If you are a first aid responder, always use caution. Always wear gloves and if necessary utilize a CPR Barrier/Guard and never put yourself at an unneeded risk.
In the event of exposure while performing first aid, immediately wash and decontaminate the exposed area. Report this incident to your direct supervisor. Seek medical attention from a healthcare provider. Medical professionals have testing procedures for blood exposure events. If evaluated in time, diseases can be treated and prevented! Post exposure evaluations may occur over a series of months to monitor if a bloodborne disease develops. A worker’s compensation claim should always be filed for the blood exposure event.
Medical professions strongly endorse Hepatitis B vaccination for First Responders and anyone who has a likely exposure to blood or bodily fluids. Vaccinations are a part of the employee benefits package and offered to custodial guides who are responsible for bodily fluid clean-up. Post exposure vaccinations can be provided; however, it is not always effective.

There is some recordkeeping that occurs with bloodborne pathogens:

· Roster list and trainer’s name and contact information

· Dates and times for bloodborne pathogen training

· Content reviewed

version of the course is intended for individuals who require an accommodation for a disability. Once you have fully reviewed the information in this training, contact your Human Resources Office to request credit for completing this course. You will not receive credit for completing this course until you do so.