AIDS and health care workers. Safety measures that prevent transmission

Despite the fears of health care professionals that they might contract AIDS from their patients, they actually run a low risk. By identifying existing situations that routinely expose them to body substances and by taking reasonable preventive measures when caring for all patients, these workers can institute habits that will afford them excellent protection against not only AIDS but all infectious diseases. Needlesticks and other puncture or cutting accidents are the prime cause for seroconversion among such personnel. The authors set forth elemental rules for body substance isolation and laboratory procedures that should be followed by all health care professionals.