Background
Worldwide, the number of SARS‐CoV‐2 infections is increasing. Serological immunoglobulin tests may help to better understand the development of immune mechanisms against SARS‐CoV‐2 in ...COVID‐19 cases and exposed but asymptomatic individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate exposure to SARS‐CoV‐2, symptoms, and antibody responses in a large sample of healthcare workers following a COVID‐19 outbreak.
Methods
A COVID‐19 outbreak among staff members of a major German children's and women's hospital was followed by massive RT‐PCR SARS‐CoV‐2 tests and provided the opportunity to study symptoms, chains of infection, and SARS‐CoV‐2–specific antibody responses (IgG and IgA) by ELISA. Study participants were classified as COVID‐19 cases, and persons with close, moderate, or no exposure to SARS‐CoV‐2 in the clinical setting, respectively.
Results
Out of 201 study participants, 31 were COVID‐19 cases. While most study participants experienced many symptoms indicative for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, anosmia and coughing were remarkably more frequent in COVID‐19 cases. Approximately 80% of COVID‐19 cases developed some specific antibody response (IgA and IgG) approximately 3 weeks after onset of symptoms. Subjects in the non‐COVID‐19 groups had also elevated IgG (1.8%) and IgA values (7.6%) irrespective of contact history with cases.
Conclusion
We found that a significant number of diseased did not develop relevant antibody responses three weeks after symptom onset. Our data also suggest that exposure to COVID‐19 positive co‐workers in a hospital setting is not leading to the development of measurable immune responses in a significant proportion of asymptomatic contact persons.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) and ergonomic risk factors are very common in bakery workers.
The purpose of this study is to (1) assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders ...among bakers because they use automated machines or traditional baking, and (2) to determine the strategies to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in bakers.
A systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted from the beginning to February 4, 2022, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Mesh keywords and phrases were used to execute the search strategy. Information on MSDs and ergonomic risk factors in bakery workers was collected. Two reviewers worked independently on study selection, data extraction, and paper quality ranking.
This study identified 14 papers from seven countries. Although the prevalence of MSDs in bakery workers has been studied, only a handful of them have been studied ergonomic risk factors, and the findings have been very limited. The association between different risk factors and MSDs seemed significant compared to many other occupational diseases. The traditional bread-baking system and lack of mechanization may increase the risk of MSDs in bakery workers.
WRMSDs for bakery workers have been less studied than other occupational diseases. Our systematic review found several significant relations between the factors influencing the prevalence of MSDs. This study also showed the comparison of traditional and modern cooking systems with diseases of the upper limbs, shoulders, and back pain as possible fields for future research.
Too much sitting – A health hazard Dunstan, David W; Howard, Bethany; Healy, Genevieve N ...
Diabetes research and clinical practice,
09/2012, Letnik:
97, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Abstract In contemporary society, prolonged sitting has been engineered into our lives across many settings, including transportation, the workplace, and the home. There is new evidence that too much ...sitting (also known as sedentary behavior – which involves very low energy expenditure, such as television viewing and desk-bound work) is adversely associated with health outcomes, including cardio-metabolic risk biomarkers, type 2 diabetes and premature mortality. Importantly, these detrimental associations remain even after accounting for time spent in leisure time physical activity. We describe recent evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies that makes a persuasive case that too much sitting should now be considered an important stand-alone component of the physical activity and health equation, particularly in relation to diabetes and cardiovascular risk. We highlight directions for further research and consider some of the practical implications of focusing on too much sitting as a modifiable health risk.
•We provide a first account of the psychological and physical symptoms experienced by healthcare workers during the Italian COVID-19 peak. It is of pressing urgency that national and international ...healthcare institutions develop a strategic plan to strengthen the clinicians’ psychological resilience to prevent them to become “second victims” in this scenario.
Italy is among the most severely hit nations in terms of hospital patients’ overload, and its healthcare workforce is struggling to cope with challenges that could threaten their own wellbeing. In this scenario, understanding the health-related consequences of COVID-19 outbreak on Italian frontline healthcare professionals is urgent. Our study provides a first account of the huge psycho-physical impact of COVID-19 outbreak for healthcare workers in Italy. Italian healthcare professionals reported relevant work-related psychological pressure, emotional burnout and somatic symptoms. This result requires attention as previous studies showed that emotional distress is associated with long-lasting effect on professionals’ health, including risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Occupational lung diseases are an important public health issue and are avoidable through preventive interventions in the workplace. Up-to-date knowledge about changes in exposure to occupational ...hazards as a result of technological and industrial developments is essential to the design and implementation of efficient and effective workplace preventive measures. New occupational agents with unknown respiratory health effects are constantly introduced to the market and require periodic health surveillance among exposed workers to detect early signs of adverse respiratory effects. In addition, the ageing workforce, many of whom have pre-existing respiratory conditions, poses new challenges in terms of the diagnosis and management of occupational lung diseases. Primary preventive interventions aimed to reduce exposure levels in the workplace remain pivotal for elimination of the occupational lung disease burden. To achieve this goal there is still a clear need for setting standard occupational exposure limits based on transparent evidence-based methodology, in particular for carcinogens and sensitising agents that expose large working populations to risk. The present overview, focused on the occupational lung disease burden in Europe, proposes directions for all parties involved in the prevention of occupational lung disease, from researchers and occupational and respiratory health professionals to workers and employers.
The liver is the main organ responsible for the metabo- lism of drugs and toxic chemicals, and so is the primary target organ for many organic solvents. Work activities with hepatotoxins exposures ...are numerous and, more-over, organic solvents are used in various industrial processes. Organic solvents used in different industrial processes may be associated with hepatotoxicity. Sev- eral factors contribute to liver toxicity; among these are： species differences, nutritional condition, genetic factors, interaction with medications in use, alcohol abuse and interaction, and age. This review addresses the mechanisms of hepatotoxicity. The main pathogenic mechanisms responsible for functional and organic damage caused by solvents are： inflammation, dysfunc- tion of cytochrome P450, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. The health impact of exposure to solvents in the workplace remains an interesting and worrying question for professional health work.
Shift workers, who are exposed to irregular sleep schedules resulting in sleep deprivation and misalignment of circadian rhythms, have an increased risk of diabetes relative to day workers. In ...healthy adults, sleep restriction without circadian misalignment promotes insulin resistance. To determine whether the misalignment of circadian rhythms that typically occurs in shift work involves intrinsic adverse metabolic effects independently of sleep loss, a parallel group design was used to study 26 healthy adults. Both interventions involved 3 inpatient days with 10-h bedtimes, followed by 8 inpatient days of sleep restriction to 5 h with fixed nocturnal bedtimes (circadian alignment) or with bedtimes delayed by 8.5 h on 4 of the 8 days (circadian misalignment). Daily total sleep time (SD) during the intervention was nearly identical in the aligned and misaligned conditions (4 h 48 min 5 min vs. 4 h 45 min 6 min). In both groups, insulin sensitivity (SI) significantly decreased after sleep restriction, without a compensatory increase in insulin secretion, and inflammation increased. In male participants exposed to circadian misalignment, the reduction in SI and the increase in inflammation both doubled compared with those who maintained regular nocturnal bedtimes. Circadian misalignment that occurs in shift work may increase diabetes risk and inflammation, independently of sleep loss.
Background
Percutaneous exposure injuries from devices used for blood collection or for injections expose healthcare workers to the risk of blood borne infections such as hepatitis B and C, and human ...immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Safety features such as shields or retractable needles can possibly contribute to the prevention of these injuries and it is important to evaluate their effectiveness.
Objectives
To determine the benefits and harms of safety medical devices aiming to prevent percutaneous exposure injuries caused by needles in healthcare personnel versus no intervention or alternative interventions.
Search methods
We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, NHSEED, Science Citation Index Expanded, CINAHL, Nioshtic, CISdoc and PsycINFO (until 11 November 2016).
Selection criteria
We included randomised controlled trials (RCT), controlled before and after studies (CBA) and interrupted time‐series (ITS) designs of the effect of safety engineered medical devices on percutaneous exposure injuries in healthcare staff.
Data collection and analysis
Two of the authors independently assessed study eligibility and risk of bias and extracted data. We synthesized study results with a fixed‐effect or random‐effects model meta‐analysis where appropriate.
Main results
We included six RCTs with 1838 participants, two cluster‐RCTs with 795 participants and 73,454 patient days, five CBAs with approximately 22,000 participants and eleven ITS with an average of 13.8 data points. These studies evaluated safe modifications of blood collection systems, intravenous (IV) systems, injection systems, multiple devices, sharps containers and legislation on the implementation of safe devices. We estimated the needlestick injury (NSI) rate in the control groups to be about one to five NSIs per 1000 person‐years. There were only two studies from low‐ or middle‐income countries. The risk of bias was high in 20 of 24 studies.
Safe blood collection systems:
We found one RCT that found a safety engineered blood gas syringe having no considerable effect on NSIs (Relative Risk (RR) 0.2, 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) 0.01 to 4.14, 550 patients, very low quality evidence). In one ITS study, safe blood collection systems decreased NSIs immediately after the introduction (effect size (ES) ‐6.9, 95% CI ‐9.5 to ‐4.2) but there was no further decrease over time (ES ‐1.2, 95% CI ‐2.5 to 0.1, very low quality evidence). Another ITS study evaluated an outdated recapping shield, which we did not consider further.
Safe Intravenous systems
There was very low quality evidence in two ITS studies that NSIs were reduced with the introduction of safe IV devices, whereas one RCT and one CBA study provided very low quality evidence of no effect. However, there was moderate quality evidence produced by four other RCT studies that these devices increased the number of blood splashes when the safety system had to be engaged actively (relative risk (RR) 1.6, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.36). In contrast there was low quality evidence produced by two RCTs of passive systems that showed no effect on blood splashes. Yet another RCT produced low quality evidence that a different safe active IV system also decreased the incidence of blood leakages.
Safe injection devices
There was very low quality evidence provided by one RCT and one CBA study showing that introduction of safe injection devices did not considerably change the NSI rate. One ITS study produced low quality evidence showing that the introduction of safe passive injection systems had no effect on NSI rate when compared to safe active injection systems.
Multiple safe devices
There was very low quality evidence from one CBA study and two ITS studies. According to the CBA study, the introduction of multiple safe devices resulted in a decrease in NSI,whereas the two ITS studies found no change.
Safety containers
One CBA study produced very low quality evidence showing that the introduction of safety containers decreased NSI. However, two ITS studies evaluating the same intervention found inconsistent results.
Legislation
There was low to moderate quality evidence in two ITS studies that introduction of legislation on the use of safety‐engineered devices reduced the rate of NSIs among healthcare workers. There was also low quality evidence which showed a decrease in the trend over time for NSI rates.
Twenty out of 24 studies had a high risk of bias and the lack of evidence of a beneficial effect could be due to both confounding and bias. This does not mean that these devices are not effective.
Authors' conclusions
For safe blood collection systems, we found very low quality evidence of inconsistent effects on NSIs. For safe passive intravenous systems, we found very low quality evidence of a decrease in NSI and a reduction in the incidence of blood leakage events but moderate quality evidence that active systems may increase exposure to blood. For safe injection needles, the introduction of multiple safety devices or the introduction of sharps containers the evidence was inconsistent or there was no clear evidence of a benefit. There was low to moderate quality evidence that introduction of legislation probably reduces NSI rates.
More high‐quality cluster‐randomised controlled studies that include cost‐effectiveness measures are needed, especially in countries where both NSIs and blood‐borne infections are highly prevalent.
The burden of disabling musculoskeletal pain and injuries (musculoskeletal disorders, MSDs) arising from work-related causes in many workplaces remains substantial. There is little consensus on the ...most appropriate interventions for MSDs. Our objective was to update a systematic review of workplace-based interventions for preventing and managing upper extremity MSD (UEMSD). We followed a systematic review process developed by the Institute for Work & Health and an adapted best evidence synthesis. 6 electronic databases were searched (January 2008 until April 2013 inclusive) yielding 9909 non-duplicate references. 26 high-quality and medium-quality studies relevant to our research question were combined with 35 from the original review to synthesise the evidence on 30 different intervention categories. There was strong evidence for one intervention category, resistance training, leading to the recommendation: Implementing a workplace-based resistance training exercise programme can help prevent and manage UEMSD and symptoms. The synthesis also revealed moderate evidence for stretching programmes, mouse use feedback and forearm supports in preventing UEMSD or symptoms. There was also moderate evidence for no benefit for EMG biofeedback, job stress management training, and office workstation adjustment for UEMSD and symptoms. Messages are proposed for both these and other intervention categories.
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