HIV, Hepatitis C Virus, and Hepatitis B Virus Seroprevalence and Occupational Exposure Risks Among Emergency Workers: A Literature Review

Introduction: HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C are highly recognized health hazards in the healthcare industry; however, there has been far less attention paid to the emergency workers’ risks of exposure. This review addresses the prevalence of infectious disease exposure in emergency responders, and seeks to characterize the risk of occupationally acquiring HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. 

Methods: A search of English-language articles that were published in scholarly journals was conducted. Articles describing the occupational exposure or seroprevalence among emergency responders, as well as populations commonly served by emergency respnders were identified and reviewed for inclusion.

Results: The occupational HCV annual seroprevalence in EMS was between 5.8 and 118.9/100,000 person-years, and up to 33.7/100,000 person-years for firefighters¹. HIV, HCV, and HBV seroprevalence among intravenous drug users was 5% and 33%, 30% and 50%, and 60% and 90%, respectively². In thirtytwo exposed individual police officers who underwent testing for HIV antibodies, five were seropositive (15.6%)³.  

Conclusion: Few recent studies address the seroprevalence and exposure risk of HIV, HCV, and HBV of emergency workers occupationally acquiring these diseases. Therefore, drawing an accurate conclusion was not feasible. The paucity data does not allow us to determine the relative contributions of occupational and non-occupational exposure to the prevalence of infectious diseases in emergency workers.  More research needs to be conducted that is aimed solely at emergency workers.