[Human immunodeficiency virus infection in an emergency department]

Unlabeled serum samples from patients attended at the Emergency Department of our Hospital were collected for a 10-week period to measure the presence of anti-HIV antibodies and assess the prevalence of the infection in this population. Both suspected (with warning mark on samples) and non-suspected patients of having the infection were included. Concurrently, health care personnel in the Emergency Department were asked to complete a questionnaire on issues concerning the knowledge of this infection and the precautions to adopt. The compliance of these measures was verified. Only 3 from the 2,293 samples from nonsuspected patients were positive (0.13%). The 79 samples from suspected patients corresponded to 44 persons with previously known infection and 35 persons engaging in high-risk behaviours; from the latter group 11 were ultimately positive. Although health care personnel was aware of precautions, they only adopted them with suspected patients but incorrectly. Thus, there was inconsistency between the perceived risk by health care personnel and the precautions adopted. While the prevalence of HIV infection is still low in the attended population at the Emergency Department, efforts must be made to decrease accidental exposures, as an increase in its prevalence is to be expected.