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Infection Control and the Hospitalized AIDS Patient

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Audrey Adams  and
Franklin D. Lowy
Audrey Adams*
Affiliation:
Infection Control Unit, Department of Nursing and Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY
Franklin D. Lowy
Affiliation:
Infection Control Unit, Department of Nursing and Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY
*
Infection Control Unit, Department of Nursing, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10467
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Extract

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has created new and difficult challenges for infection control services. Limited information on the pathogenesis and means of transmission coupled with the reported high mortality rates of this disease, have heightened public fears about the potential risks resulting from exposure to AIDS. Hospitalization of these patients, with the attendant responsibilities for their care by hospital personnel, has served to focus and amplify these public concerns in a relatively small and inter-related community. The result, in some hospitals, has been an increase in incidents which interfere with the proper care of AIDS patients. While a great deal has been written about the appropriate precautions recommended for the care of these patients, little attention has been focused on the practical problems encountered within the institution of these policies and within the education of the concerned and relatively uninformed hospital community. The success of such a program is essential to assure the proper care of these patients. The purpose of the present report is to summarize the experience at our institution and to outline the approach adopted by the Infection Control Unit to deal with these problems.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 6 , Issue 5 , May 1985 , pp. 200 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1985

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References

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