Occupational Risk of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), HBV (Hepatitis B virus) and HSV-2 (Herpes Simplex Virus-2) Infections in Health Care Personnel Caring for AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) Patients

• NCJ Number: 109015
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health Volume: 77 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1987) Pages: 1306-1309
• Author(s): T L Kuhls; S Viker; N B Parris; A Garakian; J Sullivan-Bolyai; J D Cherry
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Free online PDF and HTML access to the American Journal of Public Health is provided by the publisher 24 months after individual issues are released.

Annotation

This study evaluated the occupational risk of personnel who care for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, getting other nonsocomial infections.

Abstract

To minimize the number of subjects being in high-risk AIDS group, the study evaluated female health care providers. The 246 subjects, followed for 9 to 12 months, included 102 with high exposure, 43 with low exposure and 101 with no exposure to AIDS patients. There was no clinical, serologic, or immunologic evidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among the health care workers studied. In the high exposure group, no health care worker seroconverted to cytomegalovirus, but one seroconverted to Heptatitis B virus (HBV) and another to Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). All three groups were similar with respect to HBV and HSV-2 seropositivity. It was found that if hospital infection control practices are employed when health care workers attend to AIDS patients, or work with their biological specimens, the risk of occupationally acquiring a HIV, CMV, HBV, or HSV-2 infection appears to be low. Tabular data and 19 references. (Author abstract modified)