Abstract

PEREZ CUETO, María del Carmen  and  CUETO MONTOYA, Gladys Antonia. Biosafety in the primary and secondary health care facilities . Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2007, vol.23, n.1. ISSN 0864-2125.

Due to the emergence and reemergence of infectious agents in the last years, a great number of samples of infectious material that may be dangerous for the lab personnel, for other workers, and for the community, are processed daily in the clinical and microbiological labs. That's why, it is important to train the personnel in the biosafety topic, so that those who are exposed know the risks, the protection means they should use, and what to do if an accident occurs. In a survey done among lab workers, it was detected little culture on this topic, and the most frequent accidents were: the spilling of infectious material, the breaking of test tubes with culture, and the pricks with syringe needles. A cascade training, according the level of the workers, including the managers that are the most responsible for the biological safety, is necessary.

Keywords : Infectious agents; biological risk; biosafety; training..