PrintSchool staff are frequently exposed to blood and potentially blood-contaminated bodily fluid while performing their duties. There is also high potential for other communicable disease exposure as schools are high-density institutions and the close and constant contact provides innumerable opportunities for person-to-person transmission. School staff should be aware of the difference in transmission for both and ways to prevent exposure.
Any staff member who comes into contact with blood and/or body fluids potentially contaminated with blood--i.e., tends to a student's bloody nose, routinely assists students with toileting, diapering, suctioning mucous and/or administering injections--is at risk of being exposed to a blood-borne disease. These germs must find their way to a person's blood stream for infection or disease to occur. Merely coming into contact with an infected individual, such as shaking hands or giving a pat and even splatters of blood on intact skin, do not place a school staff person at risk for disease.
The blood-borne diseases of greatest concern for school staff are hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Both diseases are showing up at school in record numbers for several reasons--increased sexual and drug activity among children and the increase in immigrant children who come from countries where rates of hepatitis B/C are high.
Symptoms of both infections include fatigue, loss of appetite, weakness, jaundice (yellow skin) and liver enlargement.
Both hepatitis B and C viruses are easier to pass on than other blood-borne disease germs because they are very concentrated in the bloodstream of infected individuals. Hepatitis B can also survive in dried blood for periods of one week or more. Any surfaces that have dried blood (desks, floor, confiscated knives, etc.) could be a potential source of exposure.
Unlike the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) hepatitis B can be passed on through a deep human bite.
Fortunately, there is an effective vaccine against hepatitis B. This should be offered to all school personnel that come into contact with blood and body fluid contaminated with blood.
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What you can do: You can protect yourself by using universal precautions--simple methods to create barriers between yourself and a student's blood and body fluid. Among other things, these precautions call for: • Treating everyone the same--as if they are infected. You can’t tell who is infected simply by looking. • Wearing gloves whenever there is a possibility of coming into contact with a student's blood or body fluid. • Using disinfectants to kill the viruses. A simple solution of one part bleach and ten parts water is very effective in killing the hepatitis viruses and HIV. • Discarding items and articles contaminated with blood. • Washing hands frequently and immediately after an exposure to blood and body fluid. When there is no opportunity to wash your hands, use an alcohol gel hand cleaner (60-90% alcohol) – it will kill any germs on your hands. • Get vaccinated for hepatitis B. Many union contracts require school districts to cover the cost for these vaccines. In addition, the 26 states covered by OSHA also require public as well as private employers to cover the costs for vaccinations. |
