§ Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if, pursuant to his answer of 3 February, and in the absence of regular testing, he will give his reasons for stating that the risk of HIV infection to laboratory workers is extremely remote.
§ Mr. NewtonPublished scientific literature illustrates that more than 2,000 recorded incidents of direct exposure to HIV contamination have resulted in very few occupationally acquired infections worldwide. The incidence of HIV infection in health care workers in general both in the United States and in this country closely matches that of the general population despite in some cases, multiple and daily encounters with AIDS patients and others who are HIV-positive.
In the United Kingdom, more than 190 incidents of exposure to the HIV virus involving health care workers and including accidental direct innoculations have been recorded since 1985 with no evidence of infection. A single instance of sero-conversion in a British nurse was reported earlier in 1984.
Some laboratory workers in this country engaged in work with the virus have volunteered to be tested, but none has been found to have contracted the infection.