Nineteen elementary schoolchildren in Philadelphia who were pricked with a diabetes-testing needle are taking drugs to fight H.I.V. after a one of the children tested positive for the virus that causes AIDs.

Officials believe the child who tested positive for the virus had been positive before the needle prick.

The odds of the needle transmitting the virus are very low, about 1 percent, according to health officials.

However, the children are taking Retrovir and Epivir, very strong drugs that reduce the amount of the virus in their blood and or slow the progress of the disease.

The 8-year-old girl who stuck her classmates has been suspended and may be moved to a different school, according to officials at Taylor Elementary, where the incident occurred.