In 1991, the CDC published recommendations for preventing the
transmission of HIV and HBV to patients during exposure-prone
invasive procedures (5). They defined exposure-prone procedures
as including digital palpation of a needle tip in a body cavity or
the simultaneous presence of the HCW’s fingers and a needle or other
sharp instrument or object in a poorly visualized or highly confined
anatomical site and recommended that HCWs infected with HIV or
HBV (and HBeAg positive) should not perform such procedures
unless they sought counsel from an expert review panel. They also
stipulated that infected HCWs who continued to perform
exposure-prone procedures notify prospective patients. Mandatory
testing of HCWs for BBPs was not recommended. No recommendations
to restrict professional activity of HCV-infected HCWs currently
exist in the United States (58).
