In consideration of the minimal additional evidence for transmission of HIV from health care workers to patients in the 10 years since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines were issued, the Arlington Heights, IL-based American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) makes the following position statement with regard to the HIV-infected health care worker:
The HIV-infected health care worker should practice standard (universal) precautions at all times. Health care workers who perform invasive procedures should know their own HIV status. HIV-infected health care workers who carry out invasive procedures should double-glove during all procedures and minimize to the extent possible digital palpation of needle tips and blind probing in poorly visualized or highly confined anatomic sites.
Based on the accumulated evidence, ACOEM does not consider that any invasive medical procedure has distinguished itself as "exposure-prone" with respect to HIV transmission from health care worker to patient. Hence, ACOEM finds no basis to otherwise restrict the practice of health care workers infected with HIV who perform invasive procedures and does not support notification of patients of a health care worker’s HIV status unless an exposure has taken place.
ACOEM does not support notification of patients of a health care worker’s serological status with respect to HIV unless an exposure has taken place.
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