October 24, 2007

Medical Interns Have High Needlestick Risk

Medical interns have one of the highest risks among all health-care workers for accidental HIV infection through needlestick injuries, according to a recent study (news.yahoo.com/The Indian Express, 10/24).

The three-year study, conducted at the Sassoon Government Hospital (SGH) in Maharashtra, India, and cosponsored by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, found that of all needlestick injuries during that time period, medical interns were the most likely to be accidentally stuck, followed by resident doctors.

At least 100 interns and resident doctors at SGH suffered needle stick injuries and had to take prophylactic HIV meds. None of them tested positive for HIV.

The risk of HIV transmission through needlestick injuries is 0.3 percent, according to the study’s principal investigator, Dr A. L. Kakrani.