Blood and body fluids exposure of healthcare workers in a university hospital of Palermo, Italy: a fourteen years long surveillance.

Background Healthcare workers are habitually in direct contact with patients, possible carriers of infectious diseases and with potentially infectious biological materials; therefore, the implementation of standard precautions and good working practices represent an intervention strongly recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and required by Italian law, for the prevention of professional cut wounds. The study focused on assessing the exposure frequency and factors related to biological injuries among healthcare workers in a teaching hospital in Palermo, Italy. Methods We performed a 14-years retrospective descriptive analysis on blood and body fluids exposures in he…