Guidelines for cleaning to protect patients from AIDS

As the AIDS virus spreads into the general population, protecting the public, health workers and patients from possible infection becomes increasingly important. The Surgeon General recommends testing all surgery patients for the presence of AIDS prior to surgery; however, it is often impossible to complete these tests on emergency surgery, labor and delivery and emergency department patients because of the emergent nature of the admission. As the author notes, these patients require special precautions. In this article, the author summarizes the effective disinfection procedures for AIDS recommended by CDC and offers a detailed procedure to be used for cleaning the surgical/delivery suites and emergency room. This procedure upgrades the standards already in existence.