Latex allergy in health care Virtic, Tina; Bilban, Marjan
Zdravniški vestnik (Ljubljana, Slovenia : 1992),
11/2012, Volume:
81, Issue:
11
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The increasing use of natural rubber latex medical gloves in the last three decades has caused an increase in latex allergy. The majority of risk groups for allergy development include health care ...workers, workers in the rubber industry, atopic individuals and children with congenital malformations. Three types of pathological reactions can occur in people using latex medical gloves: irritant contact dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis and immediate hypersensitivity. The latex allergy is caused by constituent components of latex gloves and added powders; there are also numerous latex allergens involved in cross-reactivity between latex and fruits and vegetables, the so-called latex-fruit syndrome. The diagnosis is based on an accurate history of exposure, clinical presentation and confirmatory in vivo and in vitro tests. Prevention is the easiest, most effective and least expensive way to avoid latex allergy. Powder-free latex gloves with reduced levels of proteins and chemicals, and synthetic gloves for allergic workers must be provided in the work environment. There are already many health care institutions around the world where all latex products have been replaced by synthetic material products. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Hospitals present complex indoor environment with various users, health hazards and specific activities. This paper classifies health hazards specific to the hospital environment (HE), defines their ...interactions and possible impacts on human health and summarizes recommendations for biological and chemical hazards. A detailed literature review clearly shows that there is no developed system or method for integral control of health hazards in HE. There is no appropriate technology available that would allow development of optimal thermal comfort conditions for individual users in HE. For integral control of physical hazards, an innovative low exergy (LowEx) system was designed and tested. The system enables individual control of thermal comfort parameters to meet the needs of various users in the same room. It enables the design of optional conditions for healthcare and treatment considering the different requirements of individual patients and thermally neutral zones for other users. The system application is presented in a model room for burns patient. The measured energy use was lower by 11–27% for space heating and by 32–73% for cooling, when using LowEx system as compared to the conventional system. Owning to its flexibility, the system can also be used for other potential users.
Slovenia is a small, fast developing country in the EU with approximately 2,000,000 inhabitants and 700,000 employed. Occupational medicine has been present in Slovenia for as long as 500 yr. Today, ...130 specialists of occupational medicine are in charge of health protection of the employed (including transport workers and athletes). There are also 1,100 safety engineers, who take care of the technical side of occupational safety. We are guided in our work by modern occupational health and safety legislation, which is based on EU directive 89/391 EEC. The average sick leave rate in Slovenia is about 4.7%, caused mostly by injuries, bone, muscle and connective tissue diseases and respiratory diseases. Sick leave appears most frequently in the textile industries and coal mining. Annually, around 26,000 occupational injuries (32.7 per 1,000 employed) and 25 fatalities (3 per 100,000 employed) occur. Most injuries occur in construction, manufacturing and farming. Each year there are 8,500 disablility cases (2,500 disability retirements-most caused by mental illnesses), but only 30 acknowledged cases of occupational diseases (mostly occupational skin diseases, asthma and asbestosis). Occupational medicine in Slovenia is strongly associated with occupational medicine in the more developed European countries. It is therefore moving out of clinics and into the working environment, where its goals lie in primary prevention, i.e. establishing and keeping healthy working environments that guarantee high productivity, health and well-being of workers as a whole.
Oxidative hair dyes are the most important hair dying products. Hairdressers are exposed to the allergens found in oxidative hair dyes during the process of applying dyes to the hair, when cutting ...freshly dyed hair, or as a consequence of prior contamination of the working environment. pphenylenediamine, toluene-2,5-diamine and its sulphate are the most common ingredients in oxidative hair dyes that cause allergic contact dermatitis in hairdressers. Cross-reactivity of p-phenylenediamine with para-amino benzoic acid, sulphonamides, sulphonylurea, dapsone, azo dyes, benzocaine, procaine, and black henna temporary tattoos is possible. Allergic contact dermatitis is classified as delayed-type hypersensitivity, according to Coombs and Gell. Skin changes typically appear on the hands after previous sensitization to causative allergens. Combined with the patient’s overall medical and work history and clinical picture, epicutaneous testing is the basic diagnostic procedure for confirming the diagnosis and identifying the causative allergens. The simplest and most effective measure for preventing the occurrence of allergic contact dermatitis in hairdressers is prevention. Preventive measures should be applied as early as in the beginning stage of vocational guidance for this profession. It is important to include health education in the process of professional training and to implement general technical safety measures, in order to reduce sensitization to allergens in hairdressing. Here, special emphasis must be given to the correct use of protective gloves. Legislation must limit the concentration of allergenic substances in hair dyes, based on their potential hazards documented by scientific research.
Can a voice disorder be an occupational disease? Gluvajic, Dasa; Bilban, Marjan; Boltezar, Irena Hocevar
Zdravniški vestnik (Ljubljana, Slovenia : 1992),
11/2012, Volume:
81, Issue:
11
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Voice disorders are all changes in the voice quality that can be detected by hearing. Some etiological factors that contribute to the development of voice disorders are related to occupation, working ...environment and working conditions. In modern societies one third of the labour force works in professions with vocal loading. In such professions, voice disorders influence work ability and quality of life. For an occupational disease, the exposure to harmful factors in the workplace is essential and causes the development of a disorder in a previously healthy individual. In some European countries, voice disorders in teachers, which do not improve after proper treatment are recognized as occupational diseases. In Slovenia, no organic or functional voice disorder is listed on the current list of occupational diseases. Prevention and cure of occupational voice disorders can contribute to better safety at the workplace and improve the workers' health. Voice professionals must also know that they are responsible for their own health and that they must actively take care of it. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Background: Cardiovascular risk assessment is essential in the research of extraaural effects of noise. The thalamo-amygdaloid tract is one of the main auditory system components, leading to the ...sympathetic and endocrine system activation when exposed to noise. Conclusions: Noise effects on the stress hormone level do not have proven direct clinical weight on cardiovascular health. There is insufficient evidence of noise exposure consequences to an evolving cardiovascular system in children. There is also insufficient evidence of the noise impact on the mean blood pressure increase in adults. Studies on aviation noise and hypertension consistently show a relatively higher risk in more exposed areas, whereas this can not be said of the road traffic noise and hypertension prevalence relationship. Cross-section through the published studies has shown an increased risk of ischemic heart disease in people who live in areas with an average daily noise levels above 60 dBA.
Summary Purpose To compare medical evaluations of driving capability of drivers with epilepsy with the rules of Slovenian legislation. Methods Our research included all drivers in Slovenia that were ...evaluated as epileptic between 1993 and 2002. The results were processed using the standard descriptive statistical methods. Results During the 10-year period, the commission evaluated 541 cases and prospective drivers of motor vehicles with the primary diagnosis of epilepsy. On average, these individuals drove a third less than other drivers, moreover only 1.6% of the epileptic drivers caused traffic accidents, which is significantly lower than the percentage in general population. Medical evaluations resulted in 349 cases being recognized as capable of driving, while the legislation would issue a driver's license to only 140 of the cases. Conclusion Our research confirmed the supposition that drivers with epilepsy are safe drivers and mirror the general population in many of their driving capabilities, thus making it urgent that the obsolete Slovenian legislation is modified to conform to the recommendations of the International Bureau for Epilepsy as quickly as possible.
In addition to direct effects on the auditory system, excessive noise also causes so-called non-auditory effects. These generally occur at lower sound pressure levels (SPL) and include changes in ...many organ systems and physiological processes. Review of recent literature shows that today non-auditory effects are quite well explained. In this article we list the most important sources of noise, their extent and extra-acoustic factors that modify the link between noise and its effects. We describe the pathophysiology, prevalence and signicance of noise effects on hormonal status, immune functions, cardiovascular system, balance, visual functions, sleep quality, cognitive functions and behavior. We also summarize the conclusions of recent research on the impact of noise on the formation of acoustic neuroma and formation of connective tissue in the liver.
In addition to direct effects on the auditory system, excessive noise also causes so-called nonauditory effects. These generally occur at lower sound pressure levels (SPL) and include changes in many ...organ systems and physiological processes. Review of recent literature shows that today non-auditory effectsare quite well explained. In this article we list the most important sources of noise, their extent and extra-acoustic factors that modify the link between noise and its effects. We describe the pathophysiology, prevalence and significance of noise effects on hormonal status, immune functions, cardiovascular system, balance, visual functions, sleep quality, cognitive functions and behavior. We also summarize the conclusions of recent research on the impact of noise on the formation of acoustic neuroma and formation of connective tissue in the liver.
Colophony is a resin, obtained from pine trees. It has many applications in industry as well as in products for everyday life and exposure is virtually impossible to avoid. In article, we concentrate ...on occupational exposure, which is frequent in workers in electronics, furniture and paper industry, production of adhesives, plastics, printing ink and synthetic rubber as well as in everyone, daily in contact with products, which contain colophony, or pine wood, like carpenters and woodworkers. Main allergens are oxidation products of abietic-type acids, but cross-reactivity with fragrances, wood resins, Balsam of Peru, wood tar and oil of turpentine is also possible. Exposure to colophony manifests itself on skin in allergic patients mainly as allergic contact dermatitis. The diagnosis is based on history of exposure, clinical presentation and epicutaneous testing. Although the only effective treatment is complete avoidance of exposure, it is difficult to avoid colophony. Consequently, prophylaxis is essential and concentrates on safe working practices, personal hygiene and protection.
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