Diseases and OPIM (Other Potentially Infectious Materials)
All body fluids and human tissue have the potential for harboring disease. Because of this, cleaning the site of a traumatic incident requires the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which includes a zippered, full body suit with hood and booties, eye protection and a respirator.
Protect yourself, protect your loved ones and protect the environment by having all potentially bio-hazardous materials properly disposed of through Critical Care Bio-Recovery.
Bloodborne Pathogens:
Hepatitis A
- Transmitted through feces contamination of water, food and drinks
- Can lead to chronic liver problems
- Symptoms more common in adults
- Almost 1% fatality rate
Hepatitis B
- Transmitted via blood or blood derived body fluids
- 73,000 new cases annually
- Approximately 1.25 million carriers in the United States
- Laboratories have found live Hep B viruses in blood pools 30 days old
Hepatitis C
- Transmitted via blood or blood derived body fluids
- 2.7 million Americans are infected with Hep C-80% of those show no signs or symptoms
- Over 90 varieties of Hep C viruses are known
- The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has determined the Hep C virus can survive at least 7 days in dried blood
HIV/AIDS
- Transmitted through body fluids
- No cure for either HIV or AIDS
- The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has found the HIV virus can survive at least 7 days in a blood pool
- Infection can occur when infected blood has contact with a break in skin or mucous membranes such as the eyes, nose and mouth
Airborne Pathogens:
Tuberculosis
- Transmitted from person to person through the air
- If a TB infected person coughs or sneezes, they release the disease into the air where it can be inhaled by healthy individuals, who then may become infected
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)
- Transmitted through the urine, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents. Humans CAN contract the disease when they breathe in the aerosolized virus.
Leptospirosis
- Eating food or drinking water contaminated with urine from infected animals
- Contact through the skin or mucous membranes (such as inside the nose) with water or soil that is contaminated with the urine from infected animal
Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis (LCM)
- Breathing in dust that is contaminated with rodent urine or droppings
- Direct contact with rodents or their urine and droppings
- Bite wounds, although this does not happen frequently
Direct Contact:
Plague
- Bite of an infected flea
- Direct contact with infected animal
Rat-Bite Fever
- Eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated by rat feces
- Bite or scratch wound from an infected rodent, or contact with a dead rodent
Salmonellosis
- Eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated by rat feces
Tularemia
- Handling infected animal carcasses
- Being bitten by an infected tick, deer fly or other insect
- Eating or drinking contaminated food or water
- Breathing in the bacteria,F. tularensis
