There exists at present a wide range of equipment (such as gloves, masks, safety glasses, gowns, etc.) which are intended to protect the user against MMSEs . However, when theater staff take off their gloves after surgery, they often find blood on their hands, even though they had not noticed a stick or cut (7% of declared MMSEs) . Therefore, doubt may be raised regarding the impermeability of certain types of glove, during lengthy operations: their porosity “notably increases as a function of the degree of hydration, the duration of use and the temperature”. Little information on the permeability of these materials with respect to viruses is available.

As far as protection against PIs is concerned, safety material such as soft-tipped needles, sterile containers etc. - the prime function of which is to avoid this type of accident – is used above all. In addition, universal precautions (ergonomic work stations, not recapping needles, etc.) help reduce the frequency of occurrence of BEAs.

The means of protection currently in use are essentially based on decreasing the frequency of BEAsrather than on reducing the seriousness of the latter. When using a risk management approach, only the G-VIR® glove has an effective influence on the seriousness of BEAs by reducing the transmitted viral charge, particularly in the event of accidents involving hollow needles (the most dangerous). The performance of the G-VIR® in terms of its disinfectant activity and its reduction of the number of virions transmitted has been validated by experts.