§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has about the decision of the United States national institutes of health to instruct all biological laboratories to review their safety guidelines following the reported infection of two laboratory workers with the AIDS virus after working with concentrated samples; and whether he will carry out such a review of procedures in medical and biological laboratories in England.
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§ Mr. NewtonWe are aware of the recent decision of the United States national institutes of health to instruct all biological laboratories to review safety guidelines. Such a review was carried out in the United Kingdom by the advisory committee on dangerous pathogens which, in 1986, issued revised guidelines on the safe handling of laboratory specimens containing the AIDS virus — including working with concentrated samples. These guidelines apply to all medical and biological laboratories in the United Kingdom and have been endorsed by the health departments, the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive.