Occupational HIV infection in laboratory personnel

Abstract

The prevalence of HIV infection in the general population and in patients hospitalized with complications of immune suppression will no doubt increase in the next few years. As a result, an increasing number of laboratory personnel will be exposed to the potential for occupational infection with HIV. Although the magnitude of risk for infection with this pathogen following occupational exposure is not large, the consequences of infection are severe. It is therefore imperative that reasonable infection control measures to minimize exposure be implemented and enforced. In order to accomplish this, the modes of HIV transmission, the relative degree of risk from various types of contact, and effective strategies to reduce exposure must be ascertained.