Prevalence of occupational exposure to HIV among health workers in Northern Uganda.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of HIV in Gulu district is 10.3%. This poses a high risk of occupational exposure and transmission to health workers in hospitals attending to these patients. The risk of HIV transmission from a patient to a health worker has been shown to be between 0.3% and 0.09% following percutaneous and mucocutaneous exposure respectively. OBJECTIVES: This research aimed at determining the prevalence of occupational exposure to HIV. METHOD: A cross sectional study of health workers in Gulu Regional Referral Hospital and St. Marys Hospital Lacor in northern Uganda was conducted to establish the frequency of occupational exposures to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected body fluids. RESULTS: 108 (46%) respondents were found to have been exposed to potentially infectious body fluids. Needle stick injuries was the commonest route of exposure with a prevalence of 27.7% followed by mucosal exposure 19.1% contact with broken skin (5.5%) and lastly by a cut with sharp objects (5.1%). There is therefore need for more sensitization of health workers on infection control and post exposure prophylaxis for health workers.