3.2 Viruses, Bloodborne Pathogens & Immunity
Key Takeaways
A virus reproduces only by invading a living host cell. Antibiotics do not work on viruses, so salon control relies on disinfection, barriers and hand cleaning.
Hepatitis B can survive in dried blood on surfaces for at least 7 days and has a vaccine. Hepatitis C has no vaccine. HIV is fragile outside the body but spreads through blood-to-blood contact.
Standard Precautions treat all blood, all body fluids except sweat, broken skin and mucous membranes as potentially infectious for every client.
Immunity is the body's ability to destroy and resist infection. Natural immunity is partly inherited and partly developed through healthy living. Acquired immunity comes from overcoming a disease, from vaccination, or from exposure to natural allergens.
Intact skin is the body's first line of defense. Cutting living tissue or breaking the skin during a service removes that barrier.
Quick Answer: A virus is a tiny particle that can reproduce only inside a living host cell, and antibiotics do not kill viruses. The nail-salon viruses that matter most are the bloodborne pathogens hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV, which spread through blood entering broken skin. Human papillomavirus (warts) and herpes simplex are skin viruses to recognize. Standard Precautions mean treating all blood and body fluids as infectious. Immunity, the body's ability to destroy and resist infection, is natural or acquired. Vaccination is an acquired immunity and is available for hepatitis B.
What Makes Viruses Different
| Feature | Bacteria | Viruses |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Visible under an ordinary microscope | Much smaller; seen only with an electron microscope |
| Living cell? | Yes, one-celled organisms | No independent metabolism; genetic material inside a protein coat |
| Reproduction | Divide on their own by binary fission | Must enter a host cell and take over its machinery to make copies |
| Antibiotics | Often effective | Not effective |
| Salon control | Cleaning, disinfection, hand hygiene | Cleaning, disinfection with a virucidal product, barriers, hand hygiene; vaccination where available |
This is why Kansas defines a disinfectant as an EPA-registered solution that is bactericidal, virucidal and fungicidal (K.A.R. 28-24-1(g)). It must kill viruses as well as bacteria and fungi.
Bloodborne Pathogens
Bloodborne pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms carried in blood and some body fluids. In a salon they spread when infected blood enters another person's bloodstream, for example through a nick from contaminated nippers, a cut on the technician's hand, or a used file reused on broken skin.
| Virus | Disease | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Hepatitis B (HBV) | Liver inflammation, which can become chronic and lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer | Very hardy. The CDC reports it can survive at least 7 days in dried blood on surfaces. A vaccine exists |
| Hepatitis C (HCV) | Liver disease that may cause no symptoms for years | Spread mainly by blood-to-blood contact. No vaccine |
| HIV | Attacks the immune system and can progress to AIDS | Fragile outside the body, but a real risk through blood-contaminated sharp implements. It does not spread through casual contact such as handshakes |
The federal OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) applies to employers whose employees have reasonably anticipated occupational exposure to blood. It requires measures such as an exposure control plan and offering hepatitis B vaccination. Whatever your employment status, the Kansas blood exposure procedure in section 5.1 is mandatory.
Standard Precautions
The CDC's Standard Precautions grew out of the older Universal Precautions. They assume that all blood, all body fluids except sweat, non-intact skin and mucous membranes may carry infectious agents, for every client, whatever their appearance or health history. In practice:
- Wear single-use protective gloves whenever you are likely to contact blood or body fluids. Kansas requires this in K.A.R. 28-24-3(c), and it defines protective gloves as single-use nitrile, vinyl or latex gloves.
- Cover cuts on your own hands before working. The Board's procedure puts a glove on an injured hand.
- Never reuse anything that has touched blood unless it can be cleaned and disinfected. Porous contaminated items are double-bagged and discarded.
- Clean, then disinfect, any implement or surface that contacted blood.
Skin Viruses Nail Technicians See
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes warts (verrucae), including plantar warts on the soles of the feet. Warts are contagious. Do not file, cut or treat them. A client with active warts on the area to be serviced should be referred to a physician.
- Herpes simplex causes recurring fever blisters or cold sores. It is contagious, especially while blisters are present. Avoid contact with active lesions.
- Airborne and droplet viruses such as influenza, colds and COVID-19 spread through the air and on hands. Regular hand cleaning, disinfecting surfaces daily and after contact, and staying home when sick all reduce transmission.
Immunity
Milady defines immunity as the ability of the body to destroy and resist infection. Immunity against disease is either natural or acquired and is a sign of good health.
| Type | How it develops | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Natural immunity | Partly inherited and partly developed through healthy living | A well-nourished, rested person resisting a cold |
| Acquired immunity | Developed after overcoming a disease, through inoculation (vaccination), or through exposure to natural allergens such as pollen or cat dander | Immunity after hepatitis B vaccination |
Health sources also describe immunity as active or passive. Active immunity is when your own immune system makes antibodies, either after infection or after a vaccine, and it is long-lasting. Passive immunity is when you receive ready-made antibodies, for example from mother to baby. It works immediately but lasts only weeks to months.
The Body's Lines of Defense
- Unbroken skin, the acid mantle and mucous membranes keep microbes out. This is why noninvasive technique matters: an intact eponychium and hyponychium seal the nail unit.
- White blood cells attack invaders that get past the skin, causing inflammation and, with bacteria, pus.
- Antibodies from the immune system target specific organisms and remember them, which is the basis of vaccination.
- The lymphatic system carries lymph and immune cells, filtering it through lymph nodes.
Clients whose immune systems are weakened by illness, chemotherapy, some medications or uncontrolled diabetes are more easily infected by a small nick. Services for them should be especially gentle, and disinfection should never be rushed.
Why are antibiotics not the answer to controlling viral contamination in a nail salon?
Viruses are larger than bacteria and cannot absorb antibiotics.
Viruses reproduce only inside living host cells, and antibiotics are not effective against them.
Viruses die within minutes outside the body, so no control is needed.
Antibiotics are effective but are too expensive for salon use.
Which bloodborne virus can survive in dried blood on a surface for at least 7 days and can be prevented with a vaccine?
Hepatitis C
HIV
Hepatitis B
Herpes simplex
A client received a hepatitis B vaccination series. What kind of immunity does this create?
Natural immunity, because it is inherited
Passive immunity from ready-made antibodies that lasts only a few weeks
No immunity, because vaccines only relieve symptoms
Acquired immunity, developed through inoculation
Under Standard Precautions, which clients' blood should a nail technician treat as potentially infectious?
Every client's blood, whatever the client's appearance or health history
Only the blood of clients who disclose hepatitis or HIV on the intake form
Only blood that appears on metal implements, not on towels or cotton
Only blood from clients with visible open sores
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.