Retractable Needle Making an Impact

The VanishPoint® automated retractable needle is giant leap towards safer environments for healthcare workers. Brought to you by Retractable Technologies, Inc. the entire line of VanishPoint devices virtually eliminate healthcare workers' exposure to contaminated needles. For more information on the VanishPoint needle and to find out how to receive free samples, visit the VanishPoint website at www.vanishpoint.com. In addition to product information (which includes a video of the needle in action), the site is chock full of information and links regarding needlestick injuries, statistics and facts (some of which are listed below).

 

The Facts

• Accidental needlesticks account for 86% of all cases of occupationally related infectious disease transmission.
• Over 1 million accidental needlesticks are reported each year, but it is estimated that 66% of accidental needlesticks go unreported
• A single needlestick exposure to HBV carries a transmission infection rate as high as 30%
• For every 270 contaminated needlestick injuries (risk rate .36%), one healthcare worker can be expected to contract HIV
• In many third- and fourth-world countries, the number of injections given far exceeds the number of syringes available
• Nearly 1 million Americans and 22 million persons worldwide are living with HIV or AIDS
• There were 1.25 million HBV carriers and 3.5 million HCV carriers in the U.S. in 1996
• There are more than 1.3 million injection drug users in the U.S.

OSHA speaks out in an April 1997 article about the VanishPoint Retractable Syringes saying "A new type of syringe recently introduced to the market has the potential to eliminate this problem and to reduce the spread of bloodborne infectious diseases, including AIDS and hepatitis".

Diseases that can be transmitted through needlesticks include:

• HIV
• Hepatitis B Virus
• Hepatitis C Virus
• Syphillis
• Malaria
• Tuberculosis
• Streptoccal and Staphyloccal Sepsis
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• Herpes
• Hepatitis D and G
• Babesiosis
• Brucellosis
• Leptospirosis
• Arboviral infections
• Relapsing Fever
• Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease
• Viral diseases caused by Ebola