[Prevention of HIV infections in surgical gynecology and obstetrics]

In professionally conditioned HIV infections of medical personnel, blood has so far been the only source of infection that is of any importance. Hence, measures to prevent such infections must primarily aim at avoiding any contact with blood from HIV-infected patients. Since the HIV status of the patients and possibly alos other infections transmitted by blood (hepatitis) are often unknown, the following protective measures must be applied in all patients as a matter of routine. Fundamentally, gloves must always be worn when coming into contact with blood, body fluids, mucosa and non-intact skin. In operative procedures and deliveries, barrier methods must be employed to protect the eyes, nose, mouth and skin, as well as technical procedures during surgery and organisational measures to prevent any possible injuries or lesions caused by operative interventions and to reduce the number of persons exposed to risk. So far, needle pricks have been the most frequent mode of infection. Hence, used cannules should be treated with utmost care; do not return them into their protective cover but throw them directly into solid waste containers. After contamination, blood and other body fluids should be eliminated immediately. In case of massive contamination with material containing HIV, chemoprophylaxis should be given careful consideration.