10.  How should you sterilize office equipment to prevent HIV infection?  Does cleaning off your bandage scissors with alcohol kill the HIV virus?  What are OSHA regulations concerning sterilization?

Answer:
You should wash your equipment and then heat-sterilize it. HIV is very labile and dies within seconds of exposure to air, so cleaning your scissors with alcohol will kill the virus.

In fact: 1) autoclaving for 8 or more hours; 2) 50% ethanol; 3) Hydrogen peroxide; 4) other disinfectants (sodium hydroxide, sodium hypochlorite, glutaladehyde, formalin)  -  all work against HIV.

Gamma irradiation and ultraviolet light are not effective against HIV.
 

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