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Current Recommendations on the Workup and Post-exposure Prophylaxis for HIV, HBV, and HCV in Healthcare Workers

  • Treatment and Prevention of Hospital Infections (D Vilar-Compte, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Opinion statement

Hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV are the most commonly acquired infections related to occupational exposure in the health care setting. Measures to reduce the risk of transmission in health care workers (HCW) include primary prevention and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Primary prevention essentially includes the adoption of standard precautions to avoid percutaneous or mucocutaneous injuries and hepatitis B vaccination. PEP varies according to both the source patient and HCW serologic status. So far PEP is not approved for hepatitis C. The post-exposure management for hepatitis B will depend on the vaccination and immune status of the HCW. Immune HCW do not need prophylaxis. For non-immune HCW, prophylaxis includes hepatitis B vaccination and immune globulin within 7 days of the exposure. HIV-exposed HCW should initiate prophylaxis as soon as possible, using three drugs regardless of the type of exposure risk. New regimens including integrase inhibitors and protease inhibitors have improved HCW adherence to PEP. Timely reporting any exposure remains a challenge and is a priority for an adequate work up and management. HCW frequently do not recognize high-risk exposures and do not seek post exposure prophylactic management. Multidisciplinary efforts are still needed to improve HCW awareness and adherence to PEP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infectious Diseases Department, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Avenida San Fernando 22, Sección XVI Tlalpan, CDMX, 14080, Mexico City, Mexico

    Alexandra Martin-Onraët MSc & Carolina Perez-Jimenez MD

  2. Epidemiology Department, Hospital General Manuel Gea Gonzalez, Calzada de Tlalpan 4800, Seccion XVI, Tlalpan CDMX, 14000, Mexico City, Mexico

    Grace Salazar-Tamayo MD

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  1. Alexandra Martin-Onraët MSc
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  2. Carolina Perez-Jimenez MD
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Correspondence to Alexandra Martin-Onraët MSc.

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Alexandra Martin-Onraët, Grace Salazar-Tamayo, and Carolina Perez-Jimenez declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Treatment and Prevention of Hospital Infections

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Martin-Onraët, A., Perez-Jimenez, C. & Salazar-Tamayo, G. Current Recommendations on the Workup and Post-exposure Prophylaxis for HIV, HBV, and HCV in Healthcare Workers. Curr Treat Options Infect Dis 9, 173–184 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40506-017-0118-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40506-017-0118-8

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