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Needlestick BBV Testing Protocol — ORE Part 1 MCQ

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ModerateBehavioural Sciences & EthicsNeedlestick BBV Testing ProtocolORE Part 1

A dental professional sustains a percutaneous needlestick injury while treating an identifiable patient whose blood-borne virus status is unknown. After immediate local wound care, which is the most appropriate next step?

Educational content. Not a substitute for clinical judgement or local policy.

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Correct answer: E — Arrange urgent occupational-health or emergency assessment and seek the patient's informed consent for HIV, HBV and HCV testing.

Explanation lettering: D = shown as A · E = shown as B · B = shown as C · C = shown as D · A = shown as E

A is correct. A percutaneous sharps injury requires urgent clinical/occupational-health risk assessment, because time-sensitive interventions, including HIV PEP where indicated, may be required. When the source patient is identifiable, their informed consent should be sought for a BBV screen including HIV, HBV and HCV; results refine the exposed worker’s prophylaxis and follow-up plan. Hepatitis B vaccination reduces risk but does not remove the need for assessment, since immunity status, the exposure and source status remain relevant. Testing only the professional or waiting for later serology misses immediate risk stratification. Limiting source testing to HIV is incomplete because HBV and HCV are also important occupationally transmitted blood-borne viruses.

Reference: Health and Safety Executive, "How to deal with an exposure incident at work", updated 2025: https://www.hse.gov.uk/biosafety/blood-borne-viruses/how-deal-exposure-incident.htm