Blood-Borne Pathogen Disease in Health Science Students: Recommendations from the Lexington Conference, November 6-7, 2000

Abstract

The Student Health Services at Academic Medical Centers group has been aware since its inception in 1997 of the need for standards for health science schools in dealing with the issue of the student infected with a blood-borne pathogen. In view of the absence of such standards, the group organized a small task force of individuals from several student health services at academic medical centers and from key public and private organizations to develop recommendations for institutional responses to the health science student infected with a blood-borne pathogen. This article reviews the current status of relevant position statements of state medical boards, certain professional organizations, and other English-speaking countries, and reviews current literature. A discussion of ethical considerations of the task force's recommendations precedes the specific recommendations, which are divided into four sections: disclosure issues, testing issues, exposure management, and curriculum modification and prevention.