Are HIV lookbacks worthwhile? Outcome of an exercise to notify patients treated by an HIV infected health care worker. Incident Management Teams.

Full Abstract

This report describes the management and outcome of one of the largest exercises undertaken in the United Kingdom to notify patients exposed to an HIV infected health care worker. Eighty-six per cent (1597/1852) of patients on whom the infected junior doctor in obstetrics and gynaecology had performed surgical procedures were contacted and 1180 women (64% of those exposed) elected to be tested. None was found to be positive. Of those tested, 651 had undergone procedures classified as 'higher risk' and 529 'low risk' procedures. These data provide further evidence that the overall risk of transmission from an infected health care worker to patients is likely to be very low. HIV lookbacks may be worthwhile but we consider that it would be justifiable to notify and offer HIV testing only to patients who have undergone higher risk procedures. The estimated cost to the NHS of this exercise exceeded 200,000 Pounds.

Author information

Author/s: Donnelly, M (M); Duckworth, G (G); Nelson, S (S); Wehner, H (H); Gill, N (N); Nazareth, B (B); Cummins, A (A);

Affiliation: PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Thames.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Communicable disease and public health / PHLS (Commun Dis Public Health), published in ENGLAND. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1999-Jun; vol 2 (issue 2) : pp 126-9

Dates: Created 1999/08/03; Completed 1999/08/03; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 10402748, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Commun Dis Public Health. 1999 Jun;2(2):79-81. (PMID: 10402738)

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.