Occupationally Acquired Infections A Timely Reminder

Abstract

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are known to be at risk for contracting an infection from a patient or from a patient specimen. It might be presumed that no one would be more aware of this risk than HCWs themselves; yet, these risks often are minimized or even ignored by HCWs who perhaps through long exposure to such risks have become immune to concern albiet not to infection. It is thus useful for HCWs to be reminded of these risks from time to time, so that we do not become too complacent. The January 2001 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology begins the new year, and indeed the new millennium, with a timely reminder that occupationally acquired infections continue to be a very real risk for HCWs. This reminder is in the form of three reports that aptly illustrate the ongoing problems associated with such infections in HCWs. In this editorial, I will comment briefly on each of these reports, discuss the salient points and suggest an approach that would avoid, or at least curtail, some of these problems in the future.