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RISK OF HIV TRANSMISSION TO HEALTH WORKERS REMAINS LOW.

The Centers for Disease Control reports on a five-year study that monitored seroconversion over at least 180 days in 963 health care workers exposed to HIV. Four persons (0.42 percent) seroconverted; all had been exposed to HIV by needle-stick punctures, and two had been punctured by coworkers during resuscitation attempts. These four cases (one of which was reported previously) bring to 17 the total reported number of health care workers who may have contracted HIV infection at the workplace.

The authors conclude that 37 percent of the exposures might have been prevented by careful attention to a few principles and they recommend the following precautions: 1) wear gloves when handling blood or bloody fluids, 2) if splattering of blood is anticipated, also wear gowns, masks, and eye coverings, and 3) never attempt to recap, bend, or break needles; dispose of them in puncture-resistant containers.

— ALK

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine November 4, 1988

Citation(s):

Marcus R; the CDC Cooperative Needlestick Surveillance Group. Surveillance of health care workers exposed to blood from patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. N Engl J Med 1988 Oct 27 319 1118-1123.

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