title: Risk of nosocomial infection with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus in a large cohort of intensively exposed health care workers.
abstract: To assess the risk of nosocomial transmission of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus (HTLV-III/LAV), we prospectively evaluated a cohort of 531 health care workers. One hundred fifty of these employees reported percutaneous or mucous membrane exposures to blood or body fluids from a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) during the treatment of 238 such patients since 1981. None of these 150 employees had serologic evidence of HTLV-III/LAV infection on follow-up from 6 to 46 months after exposure. Of the 150, 46 were studied immunologically and 29 had lymphocytes cultured for HTLV-III/LAV. Results of all studies were normal. Of the 531 employees, 3 (0.56%) had serologic evidence of HTLV-III/LAV infection. All were seropositive at the time of study entry; none reported adverse nosocomial exposures. All acknowledged membership in one or more established risk groups for AIDS. This study provides strong evidence that the risk of nosocomial transmission of HTLV-III/LAV is extremely low.
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000635:transmission*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000635:transmission*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006801:Humans; D007757:Laboratory Infection / Q000635:transmission; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000635:transmission*; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States