What are some circumstances in healthcare settings in which rabies exposure may have occurred?
Healthcare workers who had an open wound, non-intact skin, or mucous membrane contact with a patient’s saliva, or other potentially infectious material (such as neural tissue and other innervated tissue) , and health care workers who experienced an injury with a contaminated needle or other sharp device related to patient care should receive rabies PEP. Specific examples where PEP would be recommended include the following: Needlestick, because it may have passed through innervated tissue (No virus has been detected in the blood of infected patients). Cut or puncture of skin involving potentially contaminated tissues (e.g. scalpel injury during an invasive procedure or cut from bone fragment that penetrates glove and skin). Cut or puncture with a solid sharp (e.g., scalpel injury during surgery or autopsy or cut from bone fragment that penetrates glove and skin). Mucous membrane contamination with saliva (e.g., spray, splash, or hand-to-eye or hand-to-mouth contact of saliva to mucous
