Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on April 7, 2005
Human Reproduction 2005 20(6):1433-1438; doi:10.1093/humrep/deh828
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Laboratory safety during assisted reproduction in patients with blood-borne viruses
1 Assisted Conception Unit, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, 369 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9NH, UK, 2 Fertility Clinic, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erasme Hospital and Laboratory for Research in Human Reproduction, Medicine Faculty, Free University Brussels and 3 AIDS Reference Laboratory of the Free University of Brussels (ULB), Free University Brussels, Route de Lennik, 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
4 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: cgs{at}chelwest.nhs.uk
For couples where one or both partners are infected with human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis C, the doors to receiving fertility care are opening as a result of better antiviral medication, better long-term prognosis and consequent changes in attitude. In line with this, fertility centres electing to treat couples with blood-borne viral (BBV) infection need to re-examine their policies and procedures to ensure the safety of their staff and both non-infected and infected patients during assisted reproduction treatments. At a time when the European Tissue Directive aims to introduce quality standards for assisted reproduction throughout Europe, we highlight the risks involved when treating patients with known BBV infections and argue that safety cannot be met with any certainty unless samples from such patients are handled within a separate high security laboratory or laboratory area, technically adapted to ensure minimal cross-contamination risk to uninfected gametes and embryos.
Key words: assisted reproduction/hepatitis/HIV/reproduction/safety
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