The cost of bloodborne pathogens

According to the July 2007 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the costs of an exposure to a bloodborne pathogen ranged from a low of $71 to a high of $4,838 per incident depending on the circumstances. Calculations included time spent reporting, managing and following up the exposures, salaries, laboratory testing, and postexposure prophylaxis.

The mean cost of exposures was $2,456 from HIV infected sources, $376 from unknown or HIV-negative infected sources, and $650 from hepatitis C infected sources.