A short guide for employers and employees is probably the Health and Safety Executive’s Blood-borne viruses in the workplace: Guidance for employers and employees. This can be downloaded from http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg342.pdf

A more comprehensive guide is Protection against blood-borne infections in the workplace: HIV and hepatitis. HMSO London: 1995. ISBN 0-11-321953-9. Price £12. This can be ordered from The Stationery Office, TSO Orders/Post Cash Dept, PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN. Phone: 0870 600 5522, email customer.services@tso.co.uk or order from the website: http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/

In the UK the most commonsense guide for health workers is the Royal College of Nursing’s Wipe it Out: Good Practice in Infection Prevention and Control. This can be downloaded from http://www.rcn.org.uk/resources/mrsa/downloads/Wipe_it_out-Good_practice_in_infection_prevention_and_control.pdf

The British Dental Association has also issued its own infection control guide, Infection Control in Dentistry. This can be downloaded from http://www.udp.org.uk/resources/bda-cross-infection.pdf . Given reports that people with HIV find difficulty in obtaining treatment from dentists, it may be worthwhile quoting from this guide:

“Those with human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), who are otherwise well, and carriers of the hepatitis viruses may be treated routinely in a primary care setting (general dental practice, community dental service, for example). The evidence indicates that, in the absence of an inoculation injury, the risk of infection to a dental health care worker during the dental treatment of HIV-infected individuals is negligible. HIV infected individuals need a high standard of dental care when they are asymptomatic to minimise dental problems. If they subsequently develop Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) it may be appropriate for them to be referred for specialist advice and care.

It is unethical to refuse dental care to those patients with a potentially infectious disease on the grounds that it could expose the dental clinician to personal risk. It is also illogical as many undiagnosed carriers of infectious diseases pass undetected through practices and clinics every day. If patients are refused treatment because they are known carriers of an infectious disease, they may not report their conditions honestly or abandon seeking treatment; both results are unacceptable. Those who reveal that they are infected are providing privileged information.”

An excellent guide to infection control for workers in developing countries has been published by Heathlink Worldwide. Practical guidelines for preventing infections transmitted by blood or air in health care settings is available from Healthlink Worldwide, Cityside, 40 Adler Street, London, E1 1EE.