The Impact of Unsafe Injection Practices in U.S. Healthcare Settings

More than 150,000 patients have been impacted by unsafe medical injections since 2001. Breakdowns in proper infection control practices often involve providers reusing needles, syringes or single-dose medication vials, all of which are meant for one patient and one procedure. These breaches can cause irreparable damage, exposing patients to bloodborne illnesses such as hepatitis and HIV, and to life-threatening bacterial infections. Although safe injection practices represent very basic infection control measures, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) routinely identifies and investigates outbreaks associated with deficient practices.

• CDC is aware of more than 50 outbreaks since 2001. Nearly half of these outbreaks involved transmission of hepatitis B or hepatitis C; more than half represented outbreaks of bacterial infections, most of which resulted in severe bloodstream infections.
• CDC released a table of selected outbreaks and patient notification events that occurred in a variety of settings including primary care clinics, pediatric offices, ambulatory surgical centers, pain clinics, imaging facilities, oncology clinics, and even health fairs. Read more about the impact pdf icon[PDF – 4 pages]external icon.
• The One & Only Campaign aims to eradicate outbreaks from unsafe medical injections by raising awareness among patients and healthcare providers about proper practices. The Campaign is a public health effort produced by the SIPC, a collaboration of several medical societies, state health departments, private medical companies, and patient advocates led by the CDC and the CDC Foundation.

Through targeted education and awareness efforts, the One & Only Campaign empowers patients and healthcare providers to insist on nothing less than safe injections – every time, for every patient. Since 2009, the Campaign has developed materials for providers and patients including a clinician toolkit, a checklist, posters, a video, and a continuing education webinar. CDC and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC) have also promoted awareness of safe injection practices at a wide variety of national and state meetings, conferences, and training activities.