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Are patients
in a dentist's or doctor's office at risk of getting HIV?
Although HIV transmission
is possible in health care settings, it is extremely rare. Medical
experts emphasize that the careful practice of infection control
procedures, including universal precautions, protects patients
as well as health care providers from possible HIV infection
in medical and dental offices.
In 1990, the CDC reported
on an HIV-infected dentist in Florida who apparently infected
some of his patients while doing dental work. Studies of viral
DNA sequences linked the dentist to six of his patients who were
also HIV-infected. The CDC has as yet been unable to establish
how the transmission took place.
Further studies of more
than 22,000 patients of 63 health care providers who were HIV-infected
have found no further evidence of transmission from provider
to patient in health care settings.
For more information on
universal precautions or occupational risks of HIV exposure,
call the CDC National Prevention Information
Network (operators
of the National AIDS Clearinghouse) at 1-800-458-5231. |
