Treatment of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in a podiatric emergency situation.
All patients should be considered seropositive, and protective measures always should be taken. The mainstays of universal precautions are the use of barrier techniques and protection from inadvertent sharps exposure. Various studies show that emergency room or trauma patients have a higher HIV prevalence than the population as a whole. Several studies of health care workers with known parenteral and mucous membrane exposure to HIV positive patients indicate that the risk of seroconversion is less than 1%. This low percentage, however, should not be used to justify nonadherence to universal precautions.
Krych
S M
SM
University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D000488:Allied Health Personnel; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010361:Patients; D011032:Podiatry; D016635:Universal Precautions