Uses & Products

Antiretroviral medications suppress the activity or replication of the HIV retrovirus. The therapeutic benefits of medications for patients typically outweigh any side effects experienced; however, nurses exposed to trace levels of untested combinations of drugs on a daily basis can suffer side effects without curative compensation. Approved medications include Agenerase®, Aptivus®, Atripla™, Combivir®, Crixivan®, Emtriva®, Epivir®, Epzicom™, Fuzeon®, Hivid®, Invirase®, Kaletra®, Lexiva®, Norvir®, Prezista™, Rescriptor®, Retrovir®, Reyataz®, Sustiva®, Trizivir®, Truvada®, Videx®, Videx® EC, Viracept®, Viramune®, Viread®, Zerit®, Ziagen®

Health Concerns

Exposure to some medications is linked to infertility in health care workers; the potential health effects caused by occupational exposure to antiretroviral agents have never been assessed.

Survey Findings

0 percent of more than 1,500 nurses surveyed reported on-the-job exposures. In our survey, nurses with frequent, long-term exposures to antiretroviral medications through preparation or administration (at least weekly for at least ten years) reported 19 percent higher rates of difficulty conceiving than other nurses.

Exposure and disease frequencies provided represent responses from more than 1,500 nurses to an online survey concerning their job history, their health, and the health of their children. Analysis of these data show that nurses highly exposed to antiretroviral medications reported a number of health problems at higher rates than other nurses.

Note: This survey was not "controlled" — it was open to any nurse interested in responding. Therefore, it is not possible to cannot draw rigorous, scientific conclusions from the data. But the survey does show that many nurses exposed to chemicals and other hazards on the job are experiencing health problems. More research is critically needed.

Exposures are prevalent: 1,552 nurses & antiretroviral medications

0% are now or were ever exposed on the job

0% of nurses exposed while pregnant

0% of nurses exposed currently or over past 5 years

0% of nurses exposed routinely (at least once per week) for 10 years or more

Commonly reported health problems

Among the 0 nurses routinely exposed**:<

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SELECT distinct healthoutcome1to1.id FROM healthoutcome1to1,employ_exposure WHERE child_id=0 AND healthoutcome1to1.id=employ_exposure.id AND (diagnosis LIKE "Headache%" or diagnosis LIKE "Migraines%") AND chemical IN ('antivirals','antivirals_prep') AND ( years_some + years_reg+years_day)>=10