A blood-borne disease is one that can be spread by contamination by blood.
The most common examples are HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and viral haemorrhagic fevers.
Diseases that are not usually transmitted directly by blood contact, but rather by insect or other vector, are more usefully classified as vector-borne disease, even though the causative agent can be found in blood. Vector-borne diseases include West Nile virus and malaria.
Many blood-borne diseases can also be transmitted by other means.
Since it is difficult to determine what pathogens any given blood contains, and some blood-borne diseases are lethal, standard medical practice regards all blood (and any body fluid) as potentially infective. Blood and Body Fluid precautions are a type of infection control practice that seeks to minimize this sort of disease transmission.
Blood for blood transfusion is screened for many blood-borne diseases.
Needle exchanges are an attempt to reduce the spread of blood-borne diseases in intravenous drug users. One of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent disease transmission is hand washing.
