1988 Agent Summary Statement for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Report on Laboratory-Acquired Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus [MMWR, Vol 37 No.S-4]

Vol. 37 / No. S-4

MMWR

tious agent, lists the name and telephone number of the laboratory director
or other responsible person(s), and indicates the special requirement(s) for
entering the laboratory.
5. An insect and rodent control program is in effect.
6. Laboratory coats, gowns, smocks, or uniforms are worn while in the
laboratory. Before leaving the laboratory for nonlaboratory areas (e.g.,
cafeteria, library, administrative offices), this protective clothing is removed
and left in the laboratory or covered with a clean coat not used in the
laboratory.
7. Animals not involved in the work being performed are not permitted in the
laboratory.
8. Special care is taken to avoid having skin be contaminated with infectious
material; gloves should be worn when handling infected animals and when
skin contact with infectious material is unavoidable.
9. All waste from laboratories and animal rooms is appropriately decontaminated before disposal.
10. Hypodermic needles and syringes are used only for parenteral injection and
aspiration of fluids from laboratory animals and diaphragm bottles. Only
needle-locking syringes or disposable syringe-needle units (i.e., the needle
is integral to the syringe) are used for the injection or aspiration of
infectious fluid. Extreme caution should be used when handling needles
and syringes to avoid autoinoculation and the generation of aerosols
during use and disposal. A needle should not be bent, sheared, replaced in
the sheath or guard, or removed from the syringe following use. The needle
and syringe should be promptly placed in a puncture-resistant container
and decontaminated, preferably by autoclaving, before discard or reuse.
11. Spills and accidents that result in overt exposures to infectious material are
immediately reported to the laboratory director. Medical evaluation, surveillance, and treatment are provided as appropriate, and written records
are maintained.
12. When appropriate, considering the agent(s) handled, baseline serum samples for laboratory and other at-risk personnel are collected and stored.
Additional serum specimens may be collected periodically, depending on
the agents handled or on the function of the facility.
13. A biosafety manual is prepared or adopted. Personnel are advised of
special hazards and are required to read instructions on practices and
procedures and to follow them.
C. Containment equipment
Biological safety cabinets (Class I or II) or other appropriate personalprotection or physical-containment devices are used when:
1. Procedures with a high potential for creating infectious aerosols are
conducted. These may include centrifuging, grinding, blending, vigorous
shaking or mixing, sonic disruption, opening containers of infectious
materials whose internal pressures may be different from ambient pressures, inoculating animals intranasally,,and harvesting infected tissues
from animals or eggs.
2. High concentrations or large volumes of infectious agents are used. Some
types of materials may be centrifuged in the open laboratory if sealed heads