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Management of the Healthcare Worker Infected With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Lessons From Nosocomial Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

David J. Weber ,
Karen K. Hoffmann  and
William A. Rutala
David J. Weber
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Department of Hospital Epidemiology, UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Karen K. Hoffmann
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
William A. Rutala*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Department of Hospital Epidemiology, UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
*
547 Bumett-Womack Building, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030
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Extract

Since acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized and reported in 1981, more than 175,000 persons with AIDS have been reported to public health departments in the United States.’ Despite advances in therapy, the median survival following the diagnosis of AIDS is approximately two years.” The dramatic increase in AIDS cases and their continued poor prognosis has resulted in great public concern regarding the risks of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from infected healthcare workers to patients.

The report of probable transmission of HIV infection from a dentist to five patients”” has lead in part to the recent publication of recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for the prevention of nosocomial transmission of HIV during exposure-prone invasive procedures from infected healthcare workers to patients.” In brief, these recommendations entail the following: all healthcare workers should adhere to Universal Precautions (UP); healthcare workers who perform exposure-prone invasive procedures should know their HIV status but testing should be on a voluntary basis; and healthcare workers testing positive for HIV or hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B “e” antigen (HBeAg) should not perform exposure-prone procedures unless cleared by an expert panel, and then only with informed consent of their patients.

Type
Readers' Forum
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 12 , Issue 10 , October 1991 , pp. 625 - 630
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1991

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