Medically compromised patients, Part II. Current trends in zidovudine chemoprophylaxis post HIV exposure

Zidovudine chemoprophylaxis is commonly offered to health care workers post exposure to HIV. The use of this therapy appears to have escalated since the early 1990s in spite of the lack of consensus science. This paper presents the results of a survey of 15 academic health care centers representing the major cities whose aggregate AIDS cases accounted for 81 percent of the reported cases in the United States. Thirteen of the 15 institutions have a zidovudine chemoprophylaxis protocol in place. With the efficacy and risks of prophylactic zidovudine still in question, health care workers should establish their positions on this therapy prior to facing an occupational exposure.