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CDC Guidelines on HIV or HBV-Positive Health Care Professionals Performing Exposure-Prone Invasive Procedures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2021

Larry Gostin
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Extract

The Centers for Disease Control published its long awaited guidelines for preventing transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus to patients on July 12, 1991. The guidelines recommend voluntary HIV and HBV testing of all health care workers performing exposure-prone invasive procedures. Special safeguards are applicable to any worker who is infected with HIV or the most virulent form of hepatitis B—i.e., hepatitis B e antigen positive (HBeAg). HIV or HBsAg-positive health care workers should not carry out exposure-prone invasive procedures unless an expert panel has approved and provided individualized guidance, and the patient is informed about the HCW's serological status.

Characteristics of exposureprone procedures include digital palpitation of a needle tip in a body cavity or the simultaneous presence of the worker's fingers and a sharp instrument in a poorly visualized or confined anatomic site.

Type
Article
Information
Law, Medicine and Healthcare , Volume 19 , Issue 1-2 , Spring Summer 1991 , pp. 140 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1991

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References

CDC, “Recommendations for Preventing Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus to Patients During Exposure-Prone Invasive Procedures,” MMWR 1991; 40 (No.RR-8):1–9.Google Scholar
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