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Clarifying Terms
As you view this site, you will come across a variety of terms. Definitions for their use on this site are explained below.
Exposure
An exposure incident occurs when blood or potentially infectious bodily fluids or materials from another person (or animal in some cases) enters your bloodstream through a break in the skin or through mucous membranes (eyes, nose, and mouth).
Bodily Fluids
Which bodily fluids are potenially infectious?
- Blood (highest risk)
- Semen
- Vaginal secretions
- Fluid from the spine, joints, and lungs
- Any bodily fluid contaminated with blood
- Any bodily fluid that you cannot identify
Here are some other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) people may come in contact with.
- Unfixed tissue/organ, other than intact skin, from a human
- Cell or tissue cultures that may contain blood borne or other pathogens
- Organ cultures, culture medium or other solutions that may contain blood borne or other pathogens
- Blood from animals infected with blood borne or other pathogens
These other human fluids are generally thought not to be exposure hazards: urine, feces, vomit, sweat, tears, spit, or nasal secretions. Treat similar animal materials as potentially infectious.
Blood Borne Pathogen
Disease-causing organisms found in blood and bodily fluids, including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B (HBV), Hepatitis C (HCV), and Rabies. You will find information about other pathogens on this site, too.
Transmission
Various transmission routes can cause an exposure incident. When an infectious substance, blood or bodily fluids, finds a way into a person's blood stream, exposure has occurred. Here are some common transmission routes:
- Cuts or punctures with contaminated sharp objects (e.g., a needle stick)
- Contact by blood or bodily fluid with a break in your skin (e.g., blood comes in contact with a cut on your arm)
- Splashes of blood or bodily fluid to your eyes, nose or mouth (e.g., blood sprays into your eyes when opening a specimen container;
- Sexual intercourse
- From mother to unborn child
- Bites
