Contact w and exposure to potentially hazardous body fluids

This code indicates a patient has had contact with or is suspected of having been exposed to body fluids that could potentially transmit infectious agents. This includes situations where the patient's skin, mucous membranes, or non-intact skin has come into contact with blood, semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, peritoneal fluid, pericardial fluid, or amniotic fluid.

Use this code for patients presenting for evaluation or prophylactic treatment following an exposure incident, such as a needlestick injury, splash to the eye, or unprotected sexual contact. It is appropriate when the exposure carries a risk of disease transmission, regardless of whether an infection is ultimately diagnosed.

• Always sequence this code as a secondary diagnosis when the reason for the encounter is the exposure itself.
• Do not use this code if a definitive diagnosis of an infection (e.g., HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C) has already been established as a result of the exposure.
• Consider adding an external cause code (e.g., W50.0XXA for accidental needlestick) to provide further detail about the exposure event.