What is the most common means of transmission of blood borne diseases in the health care setting?

Skip to main content

Close

Bloodborne diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, which exist in blood and other body fluids.

​Bloodborne pathogens are microorganisms such as viruses or bacteria that are carried in blood and can cause disease in people. 

There are many different bloodborne pathogens, including malaria, syphilis, and brucellosis, and most notably Hepatitis B (HBV), Hepatitis C (HCV) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Bloodborne pathogens such as HBV and HIV can be transmitted through contact with infected human blood and other potentially infectious body fluids such as:

  • semen
  • vaginal secretions
  • cerebrospinal fluid
  • synovial fluid
  • pleural fluid
  • peritoneal fluid
  • amniotic fluid
  • saliva (in dental procedures), and
  • any body fluid that is visibly contaminated with blood.

It is important to know the ways exposure and transmission are most likely to occur in your particular situation, be it providing first aid to a student in the classroom, handling blood samples in the laboratory, or cleaning up blood from a hallway.

HBV and HIV are most commonly transmitted through:

  • sexual contact sharing of hypodermic needles
  • from mothers to their babies at/before birth
  • accidental puncture from contaminated needles, broken glass, or other sharps
  • contact between broken or damaged skin and infected body fluids
  • contact between mucous membranes and infected body fluids
  • accidental puncture from contaminated needles and other sharps can result in transmission of bloodborne pathogens.

What is the most common transmission mode for blood borne infections?

For a bloodborne pathogen to be spread, the bodily fluids of an infected person must enter into the bloodstream of another person. The most common cause of transmission in the workplace is when an infected person's blood enters another person's bloodstream through an open wound.

What is the most common bloodborne pathogen route in the healthcare setting?

What is the most common exposure route in the healthcare setting? Bloodborne pathogen transmission in the healthcare setting occurs predominantly by percutaneous or mucosal exposure of health care workers and public safety professionals to infected patients' blood or body fluids.

Which is the most common means of transmission of bloodborne pathogens to healthcare workers in a work setting?

There are a few different ways that bloodborne pathogens can be transmitted. In the workplace, the most common cause of transmission is when an infected person's blood enters another person's bloodstream through an open wound.

What is the most common risk of exposure to blood borne pathogens for healthcare workers?

Bloodborne pathogens are pathogenic microorganisms (e.g. viruses) that can be transmitted through contact with blood and other body fluids. The most important viruses affecting health care workers exposed to blood and body fluids are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.