T he problem of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the workplace has three major components: (1) the occupational risk, mainly for health care workers (HCWs), of acquiring HIV infection at work; (2) the risk of transmitting HIV infection during work; and (3) the risk of the toxicity of work to HIV-infected workers at various stages of the disease. An occupational risk of acquiring AIDS was hypothesized at the beginning of the pandemic before discovery of the etiologic agent. The fear of AIDS has generated a huge number of reactions among health care workers, often only emotional. Several cases of doctors or nurses who refused to take care of patients with HIV infection have been reported.‘** Rules to reduce the risk of acquiring AIDS have been established by international health organizations, and cases of occupational infection reported by June 1991 approached 50. 3 The risk of transmission of AIDS involves not only health care workers and other professionals who have close contact with the public, but also HIV-infected workers who have work accidents with blood loss from wounds. Moreover, there are several professions in which the use of apparatus (needles, razors, etc) could be an indirect means of transmission of HIV infection. The third point deals with the working capacity of and the specific risk of some occupations to HIV-positive individuals. It must be remembered that HIV infection comprises different stages of immunodepression with a variety of clinical pictures that can involve almost all organs and functions.