Chapter 16.2 : Levels of Laboratory Safety

Abstract:

The importance of laboratory safety must be emphasized. Laboratory workers have always been shown to be at risk for laboratory- acquired infections. Such infections include typhoid fever; Q fever; cholera; glanders; brucellosis; tetanus; tuberculosis; tularemia; shigellosis; salmonellosis; infections caused by streptococci, Chlamydia spp., and Neisseria meningitidis; and viral infections, such as those caused by the hepatitis viruses, arboviruses, and many others ( 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 – 13 ). Interestingly, these infections have occurred in association with documented laboratory accidents in only 16% of the cases ( 13 ), of which 9.5% resulted in death ( 12 , 13 ). No national monitoring of laboratory-associated infections exists, but one estimate derived from recent surveys suggests a rate of one to five infections per 1,000 employees ( 5 , 10 , 14 ). Harding and Byers have reviewed laboratory-associated infections recently ( 3 ).