A new range of intuitive hypodermic needles provide an integrated safety solution to help eliminate needlestick injuries.

The VACUETTE CLIX Safety Hypodermic Needle is a versatile product that comes with a wide range of needle thicknesses and lengths, all easily distinguishable from each other thanks to their color-coded shields. Safety features include a double lock mechanism to fix the needle, and an integrated safety shield which can be activated using a solid surface or the user's thumb. When an audible click is heard, it indicates that the safety shield is positioned securely around the needle, and that the needle can be triaged without risk of injury.

The Latex-free, non-pyrogenic, non-toxic, VACUETTE CLIX Safety Hypodermic is a product of Greiner Bio-One (GBO; Kremsmünster, Austria), and is intended both for taking venous blood samples and for giving injections. It is designed to be used with a range of standard Luer syringes, as well as with the proprietary GBO HOLDEX tube holder, which has an eccentric Luer fitting that provides for a flatter puncture angle, thus increasing comfort for both patient and user.

“For many healthcare workers, needlestick injuries carry a high risk of infection with blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis C and HIV, with recent studies revealing significantly higher levels of affliction amongst people in hospitals than in the wider population,” stated GBO in a press release. “Given the trauma experienced by those affected as well as the substantial consequential costs, Greiner Bio-One has added another new product to its range of safety solutions in an attempt to eliminate this risk as far as possible.”

While most needlestick injuries carry no adverse health consequences, a possibility of infection from more than 20 different infectious agents is present, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). The rate of infection after needlestick exposure has been calculated for HIV as 0.3%; figures for HCV and HBV have been reported as 1.7% and as high as 30%, respectively. Exposure to significant quantities of blood or deep needle punctures increases the likelihood of infection.

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