The State - News from Oct. 2, 1987

An employee of San Francisco General Hospital was infected with the AIDS virus after being stuck in the thumb with a hypodermic needle, officials said. Phillip Sowa, the hospital’s executive director, said it is the first known accidental infection of a health care worker at the facility. He said there have been 12 such cases recorded worldwide since 1981. He stressed that the worker, who will remain anonymous, may not necessarily contract acquired immune deficiency syndrome, the fatal disease that weakens the body’s immune system.