HIV infection: risk of occupational exposure in a chemical pathology laboratory in Nigeria.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is rising globally, the worst affected area being Sub-Saharan African. In order to assess the risk of occupational exposure to HIV/AIDS in laboratory workers in Nigeria, we screened 210 consecutive serum sample sent to the Chemical Pathology Laboratory of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, over a two-week period. 17 (8.1%) of all the sample screened tested positive. The Sero-positivity rate was 11.3% for adults and 2.6% for children. The implications of these findings with regards to the risk of occupational exposure of laboratory and health worker is discussed. The need for more attention to be paid to laboratory safety regulation in sub-saharan Africa in highlighted.