Protecting yourself: HIV and AIDS

NEA’s special member publication from The Health Information Network, Responding to HIV and AIDS, begins with the question, “Should educators be concerned about HIV and AIDS?”

The booklet’s introduction answers, “YES. Everyone needs to be concerned about Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). You need to be concerned. We all should know how the virus is and is not spread. On a personal level, we all should learn what to do to avoid becoming infected with HIV. As educators, we can play a vital role in helping students learn about HIV and AIDS, and in encouraging the adoption of healthy behaviors. We should also recognize that there is no need to worry about becoming infected with HIV in school.”

The guide provides basic information about HIV and AIDS. A portion of that information is reprinted here. Members can get a copy of the guide by contacting an association representative.

The HIV and AIDS basics

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first reported in the United States in mid-1981. No cure as yet exists, and AIDS is expected to claim increasing numbers of lives in the coming years.

It’s hard to estimate the number of people in the U.S. currently infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. Many have no symptoms — they look and feel perfectly healthy. Because HIV can take years before showing any symptoms, some infected people may not even know they’re carrying

the virus. Anyone who has the virus can infect others, whether the infected person shows symptoms or not.

Research indicates that most of those infected may develop full-blown AIDS within a ten-year period, and that eventually nearly all HIV-infected persons will become ill in some way due to their infection. The number of individuals who have died from AIDS so far eclipses the number of Americans who died in combat during the 11 years of the Vietnam War.

Guidelines for handling blood and other body fluids in schools

Many school personnel are concerned that HIV may be spread through contact with blood and other body fluids when an accident occurs in school.

HIV has been found in significant concentrations only in blood, semen and vaginal secretions. However, all body fluids — including blood, semen, drainage from scrapes and cuts, feces, urine, vomit, respiratory secretions (nasal discharge) and saliva — contain potentially infectious germs from a wide variety of diseases, not just AIDS. If you have contact with any of these body fluids, you are at risk of infection from these various diseases.

The risk is generally very low and depends on certain factors, including the type of fluid contacted and the type of contact made.

Very simply, it is good hygiene policy to treat all spills of body fluids as infectious in order to protect personnel from becoming infected with many germs and viruses.

How should blood and body fluid spills be handled?

• Wear disposable, waterproof gloves when you expect to come into direct hand contact with body fluids (when treating bloody noses, handling clothes soiled by incontinence, or cleaning small spills by hand). Gloves used for this purpose should be put in a plastic bag or lined trashcan, secured and disposed of daily. Hands should be washed for 10 seconds with soap and warm water after disposing of used gloves.     

• If you have unexpected contact with body fluids or if gloves are not available (for example, when wiping a runny nose, applying pressure to a bleeding injury outside the classroom or helping a student in the bathroom), you should wash your hands and other affected skin for 10 seconds with soap and water after the direct contact has ended.

Handle any contaminated disposable items (tissues, paper towels and diapers, for example) with gloves and dispose of these items in the same manner as used gloves.

Most schools already have standard procedures in place for removing body fluids such as vomit. These policies should be reviewed to determine whether appropriate cleaning and disinfection steps have been included.

Hand washing

Proper hand washing requires the use of soap and warm water and vigorous washing under a stream of running water for approximately 10 seconds. Scrubbing hands with soap will suspend easily removable soil and microorganisms, allowing them to be washed off. Running water is necessary to carry away dirt and debris. Rinse your hands under running water, and dry them thoroughly with paper towels or a blow dryer.

Disinfectants

A solution of 99 parts water to 1 part household bleach (1/4 cup bleach to one gallon water) will destroy HIV, and should be used to clean all body fluid spills.

Disinfecting hard surfaces and caring for equipment

After removing the soil, apply a bleach/water solution (as described above) to the equipment used. Mops should be soaked in this solution after use and rinsed thoroughly with warm water. Non-disposable cleaning equipment (such as dustpans and buckets) should also be rinsed in a bleach/water solution. The solution should be promptly disposed of down a drainpipe. Remove gloves and discard them in appropriate receptacles, and wash your hands as described above.

Laundry instructions for clothing soiled with body fluids

Contaminated clothes must be laundered with soap and water to eliminate potentially infectious agents. The addition of bleach will further reduce the number of potentially infectious agents. Clothing soaked with body fluids should be washed separately from other items. Pre-soaking may be required for heavily soiled clothing. Otherwise, wash and dry as usual, following the directions provided by the manufacturer of the laundry detergent. If the material can be bleached, add 1/2 cup of household bleach to wash cycle. If the material is not colorfast, add 1/2 cup of non-chlorine bleach to the wash cycle.

Additional assistance

Questions may be forwarded to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Wellness and Fitness Program Unit, 333 Market St., Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333.