This Fact Sheet is intended to inform ASU employees
about bloodborne pathogens issues confronting us here in the workplace.
For more information about non-workplace bloodborne pathogens exposures,
contact the University Exposure
Control Officer, a medical provider, your county health department,
or one of the many resources now available on the internet.
What are Bloodborne Pathogens?
How Can BBP Affect My Health?
How Does a Person Become Infected?
How Do I Know if Someone is Infected?
How Do I Protect Myself?
What is the ASU BBP Program?
How Do I Know if I'm Part of the ASU BBP Program?
How Much Does It Cost to be Part of the University's BBP Program?
What About Students - Are They Covered by the University's BBP Program?
Whom Do I Contact if I Need More Information?
What are Bloodborne Pathogens? Bloodborne Pathogens,
or BBP, are disease-causing organisms that are present in human blood.
The BBP we are most commonly concerned about in the U.S. are Hepatitis
B (HBV), Hepatitis C (HCV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
BBP can be present in many human body fluids as well
as in products derived from human blood (such as plasma). From a practical
standpoint, you may find it easier to remember the human body fluids
that do not contain BBP: these are nasal secretions, sputum, saliva
(unless from a dental procedure), vomit, urine, feces and cerumen.
These body fluids are not assumed to be potentially
infective unless they contain visible blood or it is difficult or impossible
to distinguish these from other body fluids. Of course, some of these
body fluids can cause other, non-bloodborne diseases, so it is best
to treat them in much the same way as you would body fluids that do
contain BBP.
Hepatitis A (which is the cause of "outbreaks" of
hepatitis at schools, restaurants, etc) is not a BBP, as it is transmitted
by the fecal-oral route rather than via blood.
How Can BBP Affect My Health? Hepatitis B and
C can cause chronic liver inflammation and liver cancer. In fact, Hepatitis
C is now the leading cause of liver transplants. HIV causes AIDS, which
weakens the immune system. All of these diseases can result in death.
How Does a Person
Become Infected? If blood or certain
other body fluids infected with BBP enters your blood there is
a possibility you could get infected too. In the work setting,
there are several ways this could happen. A contaminated
needle sticks you; infected blood or other body fluids enter
through an opening in your skin such as a cut, scrape, irritated
insect bite, etc; infected blood or body fluids enter your
eyes, nose, or mouth.
There are of course other ways to get infected, such
as sharing needles (including tattoo needles) or having unprotected
sex with an infected person. These are not situations you should encounter
as part of your job at ASU, though, so they are not addressed further
in this fact sheet.
How Do I Know if Someone is Infected? You can't
tell. Many people carry Hepatitis B, C, or HIV for years without even
knowing it. The symptoms are often very vague and sometimes they have
no symptoms at all.
How Do I Protect Myself? The two most important
things to do are to always wear liquid-proof gloves and to wash
your hands well afterwards when you contact blood or other potentially
infectious body fluids. This is a good idea any time you contact human
body fluids, since even fluids that don't contain BBP (such as nasal
secretions) can infect you with unpleasant diseases like colds and
the flu.
Except in the case of occasionally acting as a "good
Samaritan" if someone is hurt, you must not contact human blood
or other potentially infective body fluids at work unless you have
received special OSHA-required training. The University trains all
Housekeepers on how to clean up blood or other body fluids safely.
Others who receive training include all people who are expected to
render first aid or other medical attention, such as Student Health
Services employees, designated daycare providers, wilderness outing
leaders, University police, and certain Communication Disorders Clinic
personnel. Town firefighters and emergency medical staff who respond
on campus also receive training.
One thing you can do to protect yourself against Hepatitis
B is to get vaccinated. The Hepatitis B vaccine consists of 3 shots
taken over a several-month period. This vaccine has been shown to be
so safe and effective that all children in public school now receive
it.
If you are part of the University's BBP Pathogens Program,
your department will pay for you to receive the vaccine. If you would
like to get it on your own, it is readily available at doctors' offices,
the health department, and is even offered occasionally on campus through
the faculty/staff wellness program. The state health plan usually pays
for the vaccine.
Another thing you can do to protect yourself and your
family is to get a Hepatitis C test at your doctor's office if you
received any blood or blood products prior to July 1992. Before
July 1992 there was no test in place to detect Hepatitis C in donated
blood, so people who received blood or human organs before that time
may have gotten the infection without knowing it.
What is the ASU BBP Program? The BBP Program
is an OSHA-required program. It requires the university to have a written
Exposure Control Plan, to provide affected people with yearly training,
to offer them Hepatitis B vaccines at no cost, and to appoint an Exposure
Control Officer. At this time, the Exposure Control Plan has been substantially
revised and is under review.
How Do I Know if I'm Part of the ASU BBP Program? If
your job duties have a reasonable possibility of putting you at risk
for contacting human blood or other potentially infective body fluids,
you must participate in the ASU BBP Program. We believe that all such
positions have been identified; to see if your job is one of them,
look at the Exposure Determinations List in the Exposure Control Plan (pdf). If your job title does not appear there but you think it should, ask
your supervisor to contact the University
Exposure Control Officer. Instructions for adding an employee or job category to the Program can be found here (pdf).
How Much Does It Cost to be Part of the University's
BBP Program? There is no cost to any employee that is covered
under the BBP Program. There is no charge for training.
Departments with covered employees are charged for each vaccine administered
and for any post-exposure care an employee requires. Post-exposure
care is covered by Workers' Compensation. Employees or students who
are not part of the University's BBP Program can attend training
for free but must pay for their own Hepatitis B vaccine.
What About Students - Are They Covered by the University's
BBP Program? It depends. Only people who receive a paycheck from
the University are considered "employees" and are covered
by the BBP Program. These are the people who can receive the Hepatitis
B vaccine at no charge. This includes graduate assistantships if the
assistantship includes work that could put the graduate student at
risk for exposure to BBP.
Students who might be exposed to BBP as part of unpaid
work (for example, required coursework, volunteer work, or unpaid internships)
are not covered by the BBP Program. That means that they must pay for
their own Hepatitis B vaccines. However, departments or instructors
that require or encourage work that will expose students to BBP are
strongly encouraged to require proof of Hepatitis B vaccination before
allowing the student to enter the academic program (as is commonly
required when entering nursing schools, for example).
Click
here for the ASU form for departments/instructors whose students
may be exposed to BBP. The purpose of the form is to inform students
of their rights and responsibilities. The form will also help limit
instructors' and the university's liability should a student be exposed
to BBP as part of required coursework or internship.
Whom Do I Contact if I Need More Information? Contact
the University's Exposure Control Officer. At this time, the Exposure
Control Officer is the University Industrial Hygienist, Mary
M. Cavanaugh. Email by clicking on her name or call 262-6838.
(Updated Feb 1, 2007)
