What are the most notable bloodborne pathogens?

The most common bloodborne pathogens are hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency virus. These viruses are all associated with illness, disease, and death and are also the bloodborne pathogens that are most transmitted as a result of occupational accidents in the health care field.

Hepatitis B (HBV) is an infection of the liver. HBV comes in both acute and chronic varieties, meaning a person can have the infection for only a few months or for far longer. Chronic HBV can lead to serious health issues, such as liver failure and liver cancer. While there is no cure for hepatitis B once a person is infected by it, a vaccine to prevent the disease has been available since 1981.

Like hepatitis B, hepatitis C (HCV) is an infection of the liver. HCV always begins as an acute infection and, in some people (but not all), becomes an chronic infection. Once in the chronic phase, HCV can lead to the same serious conditions as hepatitis B. While there are medicines to help manage HCV, there is no preventative vaccine currently available.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) targets a person’s immune system. If left untreated, HIV can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition involving a seriously compromised immune system that leads to a far greater number of opportunistic infections that likely wouldn’t cause illness in a healthy person. If HIV is treated early, current medicines can prevent it from ever becoming AIDS. Left untreated, HIV usually progresses to AIDS within eight to ten years.