WASHINGTON, July 25 U.S. school nurses are being urged to take a proactive stance concerning human bites -- especially against the risk of hepatitis B and C.
Bite victims are usually concerned about HIV transmission, but epidemiological data show the transmission rate for HIV from saliva is insignificant, according to a paper in The Journal of School Nursing.
The real threats from a human bite are hepatitis B and/or C transmission and wound infection, the paper said.
Epidemiological data show hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV and 10 times more infectious than hepatitis C.
The report said that understanding the risks should prompt school employees such as school nurses and teachers to be immunized. In addition, the researchers say they hope that when teachers and other school staff members are educated about the risks associated with human bites they will be more likely to report the incident quickly and seek treatment.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
