Update: exposure to aerosol pentamidine

Pentamidine, a drug administered in aerosol form to AIDS patients suffering from Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), has come under heavy fire from hospital unions and others of late. Pentamidine presents a twofold occupational risk: first, there is exposure to the drug itself, which, according to many healthcare workers, is a respiratory irritant with potential long-term consequences; second, there appears to be some evidence that working in pentamidine therapy areas increases the potential of exposure to respiratory pathogens, especially tuberculosis (TB).