The Contagious Patient

Excerpt

The inevitable risk borne by medical workers in the process of caring for patients with contagious diseases has been historically most apparent in epidemics, during which physicians have selflessly treated patients known to have dangerous, communicable infections. Investigators of infectious diseases still must face hazards when they work with microorganisms of uncertain danger and contagiousness, as exemplified by the death of Howard Ricketts in the study of typhus and the risks incurred by researchers working with HIV, the AIDS virus. Our knowledge of how infectious diseases are spread and the development of prudent infection control guidelines, however, have eliminated much of the risk for modern physicians. Physicians who follow accepted rules for patient isolation, acquire a basic knowledge of how infections are transmitted, and receive proper immunizations will set an example of responsible behavior for other medical and paramedical workers, and protect themselves and other patients from unnecessary hazard.