Surgeons with HIV infection: the risk to patients.

The risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission from an infected surgeon to a patient is probably very low. In separate studies, the patients of four surgeons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have been followed up; no evidence of transmission was found. However, a recent report suggests that a dentist with AIDS may have transmitted HIV infection to a patient during the extraction of two molar teeth. Whether HIV-infected health care workers who perform invasive procedures ought to be obliged to discontinue or modify their practice continues to be debated.