科研之友
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摘要
HIV/AIDS has changed the way the medical profession cares for patients. Uninformed doctors still turn away suspected and confirmed cases of HIV/AIDS for fear of contracting the disease themselves, especially in the developing world. Increasing awareness of universal precautions and the modes of spread of HIV has resulted in better care for such patients. Health care workers (HCWs) are getting increasingly exposed to patients with HIV/AIDS, a large number of whom are clinically silent. Data from developing countries is lacking, and exposure rate is high in the absence of access to resources needed for universal precautions. In the absence of an effective vaccine, universal precautions and post-exposure prophylaxis remain the mainstay of tackling this occupational hazard. The risk of seroconversion after a needlestick injury may be reduced by knowledge of body fluids that are high risk and awareness of postexposure prophylaxis after possible HIV-contaminated needlestick injury. The lack of awareness of risk involved and the measures to be taken in case of accidental exposure to contaminated body fluids is alarming. In most hospitals, work-practice controls for exposure prevention are either inadequate or underutilized. It is high time we tackled this issue of immense immediate concern to health care professionals, with a larger bearing on handling this plague of modern times.
- 出版日期2007-4
- 单位河北医科大学
