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A 'blood-borne disease' is one that can be spread by contamination by blood.
The most common examples are HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and viral haemorrhagic fevers.
Diseases that are not usually transmitted directly by blood contact, but rather by insect or other vector, are more usefully classified as ''vector-borne disease'', even though the causative agent can be found in blood. Vector-borne diseases include West Nile virus and malaria.
Many blood-borne diseases can also be transmitted by other means.
Since it is difficult to determine what pathogens any given blood contains, and some blood-borne diseases are lethal, standard medical practice regards all blood (and any body fluid) as potentially infective. ''Blood and Body Fluid precautions'' are a type of infection control practice that seeks to minimize this sort of disease transmission.
Blood for blood transfusion is screened for many blood-borne diseases.
Needle exchanges are an attempt to reduce the spread of blood-borne diseases in intravenous drug users.

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See also

External links

See also

★ blood test

★ sharps bin

★ needlestick injury

External links

★ Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention, from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

★ Professor Andrew Speilman, Entomologist, Harvard School of Hygiene and Public Health Freeview Malaria video by the Vega Science Trust.

★ Rob Hutchinson, Entomolgoist, Mosquitoes London School of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases. Freeview video by the Vega Science Trust.

★ http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/bp.html