HIV-1 Infection in Patients With Penetrating Trauma in San Antonio, Tex

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Abstract
To the Editor.— Patients in the emergency department at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md, who had penetrating trauma demonstrated a 19% incidence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in 1986.1 To assess the level of HIV-1 infection in this population at Medical Center Hospital in San Antonio, Tex, blood samples collected over a 1-year period from 146 patients with penetrating trauma were analyzed for HIV-1 infection by both antibody and antigen testing (Abbott Diagnostics, North Chicago, Ill). In marked contrast to the Baltimore experience, the San Antonio population had a 0% incidence of HIV-1 infection. The risk, therefore, posed by this group of patients to health care workers in San Antonio is much less than that reported from Baltimore. Many differences exist in the ethnic composition of the two populations. Overall, the cumulative incidence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in San Antonio and Baltimore is

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