Are healthcare personnel at risk of occupational infection with HPV?

Occupational infection with HPV is possible. Some HPV-associated conditions (including anogenital and oral warts, anogenital intraepithelial neoplasia, and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis) are treated with laser or electrosurgical procedures that could produce airborne particles. These procedures should be performed in an appropriately ventilated room using standard precautions and local exhaust ventilation. Workers in HPV research laboratories who handle wild-type viruses or “quasi virions” might be at risk of acquiring HPV from occupational exposures. In the laboratory setting, proper infection control should be instituted, including, at minimum, biosafety level 2. Whether HPV vaccination would be of benefit in these settings is unclear because no data exist on transmission risk or vaccine efficacy in this situation.