Disposal of Leeches After Use

Keep fed leeches in a separate container and properly discard them as infectious material. Once used, leeches must never be reused on the same patient or on another patient.

1. After detachment or removal from the patient, leeches should be treated as contaminated biohazard material. Each leech should be killed by immersion in 70% alcohol solution for 5-10 minutes and disposed of with other biohazard materials.
2. Return unused leeches to the pharmacy to be put back in the container for storage.