Personale sanitario e soccorritori in ambulanza a rischio di infezioni contratte per via ematica: un interessante studio, recentemente pubblicato, rende conto della frequenza delle infezioni professionali trasmesse per via ematica e delle ferite da taglio tra i paramedici polacchi di alcune stazioni di ambulanza

Il personale sanitario ed i soccorritori in ambulanza sono esposti ad un rischio relativamente alto di contrarre infezioni.

Ciò è legato al contatto frequente e ravvicinato con i pazienti, alla natura di emergenza del loro lavoro, all’ambiente di lavoro mobile, alla scarsa illuminazione, alle limitazioni di spazio e al ritmo con cui devono essere eseguite le procedure di emergenza [1,2].

La percentuale di paramedici che ha riportato l’esposizione al sangue nell’anno precedente è molto fluttuante, variando tra il 22% negli Stati Uniti (USA) e il 63% in Thailandia [5]. In Polonia, terra nella quale è stato condotto lo studio che proponiamo, questo tasso varia dal 14% [9] al 78% [5].

L’alto tasso di SI professionali tra i paramedici è un serio problema di salute pubblica. Secondo Boal et al. [6], i tassi di SI (acronimo inglese di “ferite da taglio”) in questa categoria professionale sono significativamente più elevati rispetto alla maggior parte degli operatori sanitari ospedalieri (HCW); lo stesso vale per le esposizioni al sangue non a pelle intatta. Tuttavia, circa il 50% dei paramedici non segnala l’esposizione professionale al sangue.

I bassi tassi di segnalazione rappresentano un’occasione mancata per la profilassi post-esposizione (PEP), come gli antiretrovirali, il vaccino contro l’epatite B (HBV) o l’immunoglobulina per l’epatite B. Fattori personali come l’età avanzata, il lungo servizio, la mancanza di formazione nel controllo delle infezioni (IC) sono importanti fattori di rischio che contribuiscono a una SI [3,10,11]. Inoltre, l’uso riferito dei dispositivi di protezione individuale (DPI) tende ad essere scarso, ad esempio, maschere e occhiali non sono usati regolarmente dal 38-77% dei paramedici [5].

Sebbene i soccorritori trattino molti pazienti (circa 22 milioni di pazienti/anno negli Stati Uniti), la conoscenza dei rischi di SI e la prevalenza delle infezioni trasmesse per via ematica (BBI) in questo gruppo professionale è piuttosto scarsa [12]. I confronti scientifici tra gli studi sono difficili a causa dei diversi metodi di raccolta dei dati, che influenzano la coerenza. Inoltre, negli studi precedentemente pubblicati, sono stati riscontrati alcuni errori di metodologia, come i bias di selezione [5]. C’è un urgente bisogno di indagini metodologicamente corrette.

L’obiettivo dello studio è stato quello di valutare la prevalenza delle BBI e stimare l’incidenza e i fattori di rischio selezionati per le SI tra i paramedici polacchi [13].

Sarebbe interessante analoga attenzione, magari in una tesi di laurea o di specializzazione, nel settore dell’emergenza e soccorso in Italia.

Lo studio che correla infezioni trasmesse per via ematica e soccorritori in ambulanza:

ijerph-18-00060-v2 (2)

Per approfondire:

Autista soccorritore, quali gli effetti di una formazione basata sul simulatore? Studio in Germania sui conducenti di ambulanza

Infezioni virali nel Regno Unito: ecco quali sono i virus e batteri più diffusi

Fonti dell’articolo:

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