To estimate the incidence of Lyme borreliosis in France, describe its clinical presentations, and assess its potential risk factors, we conducted a nationwide prospective study in the French ...Sentinelles Network, consisting of 1178 general practitioners (GPs). Of these, 875 (74%), i.e. 1·6% of all French GPs, participated in the study from May 1999 to April 2000. Eighty-six cases of Lyme disease were reported and validated, of which 77 (90%) consisted of erythema migrans. At national level, the incidence was estimated at 9·4/100000 inhabitants. Compared to the French general population, Lyme disease patients were older (P<10−4), more were living in rural areas (P<10−3), and amongst the working population, more were farmers (P<10−3) and fewer, salaried workers (P<0·005). Cervidae density correlated strongly with the estimated regional incidence of Lyme disease (r=0·82). Both incidence data and identified risk factors can help to target measures for its prevention and treatment.
: Our goal in this paper is to identify how recent escalations in immigration enforcement and changes in migration practices affect the ability of the state to continue to serve two of its key ...“productive” functions: protecting capital accumulation within industry and ensuring the state's own political legitimacy in the eyes of the public. We draw on our ethnographic research on Latino migrant dairy farm workers in Wisconsin to examine the ways in which a group of migrant workers experiences the process of being enforced as “illegal” bodies. We find that migrant dairy workers’ palpable sense of “deportability” articulates with the specific structure of dairy work in ways that make the economically and politically “ideal” migrant: compliant at work and invisible otherwise.
•We explore workers’ resistance to the spread of precarious employment in Greece.•The paper focuses on the spatiality of strikes by strawberry workers and steelworkers.•Workers' agency is seen as a ...relational phenomenon.•Agency is strongly determined by the sector, trans-local solidarity and timing.•Workers can play important roles in resisting precarious employment relations.
This paper studies workers’ resistance to the spread of informal and flexible employment patterns in Greece during the ongoing economic crisis. It focuses upon the spatial aspects of two strikes, the first by immigrant agricultural workers employed in the strawberry fields of Nea Manolada, in the Peloponnesus region, and the second by steelworkers employed at the Hellenic Steelworks SA in Aspropyrgos, in the Attica region. The paper analyses workers’ agency in both these cases, viewing it as a relational phenomenon strongly determined by the economic specificities of the sector to which workers’ employers belonged, by the workers’ ability (or not) to develop trans-local networks of solidarity and by the timing of the two struggles. We view the paper as a contribution to the growing body of Labour Geography research in two ways: (i) it speaks to how to theorise worker agency in a more nuanced manner; and (ii) it argues that, rather than viewing workers as simply social actors who are caught up in labour markets that are assumed to be structured by the actions of capital and the state (as per much economic theory), workers can actually play important roles in shaping how labour markets function and in resisting the tendency for precarious employment relations to spread across them.
A study in frog and chicken embryos, and reports of a high incidence of birth defects in regions of intensive GM-soy planting have raised concerns on the teratogenic potential of glyphosate-based ...herbicides. These public concerns prompted us to conduct a systematic review of the epidemiological studies testing hypotheses of associations between glyphosate exposure and adverse pregnancy outcomes including birth defects.
A systematic and comprehensive literature search was performed in MEDLINE, TOXLINE, Bireme-BVS and SCOPUS databases using different combinations of exposure and outcome terms. A case-control study on the association between pesticides and congenital malformations in areas of extensive GM soy crops in South America, and reports on the occurrence of birth defects in these regions were reviewed as well.
The search found ten studies testing associations between glyphosate and birth defects, abortions, pre-term deliveries, small for gestational date births, childhood diseases or altered sex ratios. Two additional studies examined changes of time-to-pregnancy in glyphosate-exposed populations. Except for an excess of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - ADHD (OR = 3.6, 1.3-9.6) among children born to glyphosate appliers, no significant associations between this herbicide and adverse pregnancy outcomes were described. Evidence that in South American regions of intensive GM-soy planting incidence of birth defects is high remains elusive.
Current epidemiological evidence, albeit limited to a few studies using non-quantitative and indirect estimates and dichotomous analysis of exposures, does not lend support to public concerns that glyphosate-based pesticides might pose developmental risks to the unborn child. Nonetheless, owing to methodological limitations of existing analytical observational studies, and particularly to a lack of a direct measurement (urine and/or blood levels), or an indirect estimation of exposure that has proven valid, these negative findings cannot be taken as definitive evidence that GLY, at current levels of occupational and environmental exposures, brings no risk for human development and reproduction.
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus. It is difficult to diagnose CE by clinical symptoms alone, therefore, radiological and serological examinations should be ...conducted as well. The aims of this retrospective study were to evaluate the biochemical, hemogram, serological and radiological findings of patients prediagnosed as CE, and to survey epidemiological data to detect the status of the disease in our region. A total of 253 patients (148 female, 105 male) who were admitted to Hitit University Training and Research Hospital in Corum province (located in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey), between October 2009 to July 2013, were included in the study. Serum samples collected from the patients were analyzed by indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test, in the Microbiology Reference Laboratories of the Turkish Public Health Institute, and 1/160 and higher titers were considered positive. Twenty-three (15.5%) of female patients and nine (8.6%) of male patients, with a total of 32 (12.7%) were found to be seropositive. The difference between the gender was not statistically significant (X2= 2.72). The age range of the 32 seropositive patients was between 16-90 years (mean: 51), and of them 24 (75%) being over 40 years old was found as statistically significant (X2= 22.45). All of the seropositive patients presented radiological findings diagnosed with ultrasonography and computed tomography. Additionally, it was noticed that two patients (one male, one female) who were seronegative by IHA test, have passed a CE operation and the diagnosis was confirmed with pathological findings. Of the patients 43.8% were admitted to general surgery, followed by infectious diseases (21.9%), gastroenterology (21.9%) and other (12.5%) clinics. Radiological diagnosis showed that 31 (96.9%) of seropositive patients had CE in the liver, of them two (6.3%) also had lung involvement, while one patient (3.1%) had intraperitoneal involvement alone, without liver infection. Although 50% (16/32) of patients resided in Çorum urban area, most of them were dealing with agriculture and animal breeding. Among the biochemical parameters, GGT were detected with highest level (28%), followed by ALT (16%), AST (16%) and ALP (13%), while the other parameters were normal. Elevated RDW level was the most frequently observed result (29%) among hemogram parameters, while decreased levels of hematocrit, hemoglobin and MCV were detected in 23%, 19% and 19% of the patients, respectively. Eosinophilia was detected in 19% of the patients. In conclusion, for the diagnosis of CE, which is still an important public health problem in our region, a comprehensive evaluation of clinical, radiological, serological and biochemical findings is needed, to avoid a confusion of other diseases with similar clinical symptoms.
Les effets sanitaires liés à l’usage des pesticides agricoles sont de plus en plus dénoncés en France, à travers des mobilisations portées par des associations environnementales, des riverains, des ...consommateurs ou des élus locaux. Le débat public sur le sujet s’est intensifié sous l’effet d’une forte médiatisation à partir de 2016. Toutefois, les voix des agriculteurs et plus encore celles des salariés y sont peu audibles. Une enquête qualitative menée en Gironde permet d’interroger ce paradoxe : comment comprendre la quasi-absence des travailleurs agricoles, notamment salariés, du débat public sur les pesticides alors que leur surexposition est prouvée ? Mobilisant l’approche par les capabilités, cet article analyse et identifie les processus structurels et situationnels qui génèrent cette quasi-absence de participation. Pour mieux comprendre ce qui se joue lors des discussions publiques sur les pesticides, l’enquête s’est notamment intéressée à la prise de parole des travailleurs agricoles en situation d’activité. Elle révèle alors des inégalités entre viticulteurs et salariés en contrat à durée indéterminée (CDI) d’une part, et les salariés en contrat à durée déterminée (CDD) et ouvriers saisonniers d’autre part. Plus encore, elle montre qu’au-delà d’une simple opposition employeur/salarié, ces inégalités opèrent de façon plus complexe à l’intérieur d’un même statut, notamment celui de saisonnier.
Over 16.7 million workers in Thailand (42 percent of the working population) are engaged in agriculture, disproportionately from the lower socioeconomic strata of Thai society. Most agricultural ...workers (over 93 percent) work in the informal sector without the protections of regulations or enforcement of labor or health and safety laws or enrollment in a social security system. Although Thailand’s use of herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides is growing, there is little regulation of the sale, use, or application of these potentially toxic chemicals. This paper summarizes the research to date on occupational health and safety for Thai agricultural workers, identifies gaps in pesticide regulations and the current systems for occupational health and safety and social support for Thai agricultural workers, and makes recommendations for future policy and research initiatives to fill the identified gaps.
Leptospirosis is a severe spirochetal zoonosis in the world. It is considered an occupational disease of persons engaged in agriculture, sewage works, forestry, and animal slaughtering. A study was ...conducted with an objective of assessing the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among the high-risk groups of Andaman Islands. A total of 611 sera samples from different high-risk populations were collected and tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Genetic characterization of the isolate was done by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting, and serological characterization was done using monoclonal antibody technique. Antibodies to leptospires were detected in 322 samples giving an overall seroprevalence of 52.7%. The seroprevalence was highest among agriculture workers (62.5%) followed by sewage workers (39.4%), animal handlers (37.5%), forest workers (27.3%), and butchers (30.0%). Seroprevalence among control population was 14.7%, which was comparatively less than that of the high-risk population groups. Subject sera were most commonly reacted with organisms of the serogroup Grippotyphosa followed by Australis, and the pattern was similar in control group. Four leptospires were isolated from agriculture workers who were admitted to the public health center (PHC) with complaints of fever and body ache. Human isolates were compared with two rodent (Rattus norvegicus) isolates from the same area of agriculture workers to get initial information about the transmission cycle of leptospirosis in the study community. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting pattern of the strains recovered from the rodents and human patients were identified as belonged to genomo-species Leptospira interrogans. The antigenic characterization of the strains recovered from them belonged to serovar Valbuzzi of serogroup Grippotyphosa. The study showed that people engaged in high-risk activities such as agriculture, sewage cleaning, animal handling, animal slaughtering, and forestry are frequently exposed to leptospirosis, and hence control strategies targeting these populations could be more effective.
Farmers are at high risk of having low back disorders (LBDs). Agriculture employs half the global workforce, but it is unclear whether all farming populations are represented equitably in the LBD ...literature. This systematic review quantifies the number and quality of research studies by geographical region, agricultural commodity, and farmer characteristics. MEDLINE, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus, and Embase databases were searched using conceptual groups of search terms: "farming" and "LBD." Screening and extraction were performed by two researchers in parallel, then reconciled through discussion. Extracted study characteristics included location of study; commodity produced; worker sex, ethnicity, and migration status; type of employment; and study quality. These were compared with agricultural employment statistics from the International Labour Organization and World Bank. From 125 articles, roughly half (67) did not specify the employment context of the participants in terms of migration status or subsistence versus commercial farming. Although in many regions worldwide women make up the bulk of the workforce, only a minority of low back disorder studies focus on women. Despite the predominance of the agricultural workforce in developing nations, 91% of included studies were conducted in developed nations. There was no significant difference in study quality by geographic region. The nature of the world's agricultural workforce is poorly represented by the literature when it comes to LBD research. If developing nations, female sex, and migrant work are related to increased vulnerability, then these groups need more representation to achieve equitable occupational health study.
To describe urinary cotinine levels in tobacco farmers.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2,570 tobacco farmers. All participants that reported green tobacco sickness in the week prior to the ...interview plus a subsample of 492 pesticide applicators were included. We collected urinary samples and information about sociodemographic, behavioral, dietary, occupational characteristics, and pesticide poisoning during their lifetime. Stratification by sex and smoking was performed and the Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametrical tests were used to analyze cotinine means.
This study included 582 individuals. There was no difference in urinary cotinine means between green tobacco sickness symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Among non-smokers, having picked tobacco in the previous week was associated with higher cotinine means in both genders. Cotinine levels were higher on the first day of symptoms and reduced exponentially with each day in female non-smokers. Male non-smokers had higher levels on the second day and a more gradual reduction. The cotinine level rose up to 15 cigarettes/day of consumption.
The urinary cotinine measures exposure to nicotine up to its saturation point; while green tobacco sickness, affected by tolerance, indicates nicotine poisoning. Strategies to reduce nicotine exposure in tobacco production are needed. Mechanization could be an alternative, as long as it overcame the challenge of irregular terrain and did not affect the quality of the leaf. More studies are needed to evaluate the chronic effect of nicotine exposure.
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