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Povidone–iodine (Betadine) solution: a simple protectant in surgical gloves

George D S Turner
Med J Aust 2009; 190 (3): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02333.x
Published online: 2 February 2009

To the Editor: Needlestick injuries are inevitable during surgery, particularly if operating hurriedly by “feel” in blood-obscured fields, such as in Caesarean sections. The risks associated with these injuries were accentuated by the advent of the HIV pandemic. While working in rural Zimbabwe, an article describing Betadine inactivating HIV in an infected cell culture, with the cells surviving, triggered my interest.1


  • Trinity Beach Medical Centre, Cairns, QLD.


Correspondence: turnerg@iig.com.au

  • 1. Harbison MA, Hammer SM. Inactivation of human immunodeficiency virus by Betadine products and chlorhexidine. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 1989; 2: 16-20.
  • 2. Todd RG, editor. Martindale’s extra pharmacopoeia. 25th ed. London: The Pharmaceutical Press, 1967: 502-504, 683.

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