Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 21 Dec 1995
Mike Cooper / Reuter
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studied the cases of 710 health care workers in the United States, France and Britain, including 31 who became infected with HIV after they were injured by contaminated needles or sharp objects.
Researchers found that exposed workers were less likely to test positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, if they were taking AZT, also known as zidovudine.
"For the health care workers in this study, the use of zidovudine (AZT) decreased the risk 79 percent," said Dr. Denise Cardo, a medical epidemiologist in the CDC's Hospital Infections Program.
But Cardo stressed that because of the number of workers involved and the nature of the study, it was not known if the drug prevented health workers becoming infected.
The CDC estimates the risk of HIV infection from this type of exposure to HIV-infected blood is about three-tenths of one percent.
The study found a health worker was more likely to become infected if a larger quantity of blood was involved, if the contaminated needle penetrated a vein or artery, or the patient was in the terminal stages of AIDS, Cardo said.
AZT was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in March 1987 for the treatment of people with more advanced stages of HIV infection. While the drug extends the life of some AIDS patients, the FDA has not approved AZT for use in preventing infection after potential exposure to the virus.
Zidovudine can inhibit production of red blood cells, requiring treatment for anemia, and can also reduce white blood cell counts, the FDA said.
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