BLOODBORNE PATHOGENS - LESSON FOUR

How Do Bloodborne Pathogens Enter The Body?

Jason watched her add a drop... and that was when he thought of eyedrops. If someone wished to introduce the [pathogen], the mucous membrane in the eye would absorb it perfectly.

({Excerpt from Mortal Fear by Robin Cook)

Did you know that Robin Cook, best known as the author of several medical mystery novels is actually a physician? In fact, his specialty deals with ophthalmology, or the study of the eye.

And yes, the eye is one route for a bloodborne pathogen to take. Once inside your eye, any vicious little bacteria, virus, or fungus can make you sick.

That means that any contact to the eye offers an opportunity for infection.

Sharing contact lenses can lead to infection.

The eye, however, is not the only route to your bloodstream. Bloodborne pathogens will take advantage of any path that might lead inside your body. Bloodborne pathogens enter your body through body cavities, such as your eyes, nose, mouth, vagina, anus, a cut or other open sores.

So, how does this happen? In a school setting, you can imagine that a student or co-worker has a cut. You rush to help him or her clean and bandage the wound. While you are working on the cut, you wipe your eyes. Any microscopic organism in that blood has just entered your bloodstream through the mucous membranes in your eye.

How else can this happen? One of your students rushes in from the playground with a bloody nose. You offer some tissue and paper towels to slow the bleeding. When all is well again, you see some of the blood soaked paper towels that landed just short of the trashcan. You pick the towels up forgetting about the way you scraped your knuckles as you unlocked your classroom door this morning. Hepatitis B pathogens can live for up to 7 days on surfaces. Surprise, if the blood on the towels is infected, you may be too.

Isn’t this just a bit far fetched? Not at all. Any time you come in contact with blood, you run the risk of introducing any bloodborne pathogens into your body. It happens as harmlessly as when your nose itches and you scratch it, you rub your eye, or you pick up a bit of food without washing your hands first.

Between the time you come into contact with infected blood anywhere on your skin, hair or clothing and the time you thoroughly cleanse the area, you are a prime target for infection.

Is it as dangerous as it sounds? Only if you ignore precautions. In the following lessons, you will learn Belton ISD policies and procedures designed to keep you safe from bloodborne pathogens.

Please view the following brief video clip to learn more about ways bloodborne pathogens enter your body and expose you to risk.

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In this lesson you learned that:

• You are at risk for infection when bloodborne pathogens enter your body
• Bloodborne pathogens enter the body through the mucous membranes of the eyes
• Sharing contact lenses can lead to infection
• Bloodborne pathogens enter the body through the mucous membranes of the nose
• Bloodborne pathogens enter the body through the mouth
• Bloodborne pathogens enter the body through any body opening
• Bloodborne pathogens enter the body through any opening on your skin, such as a cut, a needle stick or an open sore
  
  

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