Deaths due to bloodborne infections and their sequelae among health-care workers

Identifying Trends of Percutaneous Injuries at an Australian Dental School

Objectives

The aim of this study was to retrospectively examine trends in percutaneous exposure incidences (PEIs) at the School of Dentistry (SoD) from 2009 to 2019 and to report on the underreporting rate of PEIs, current attitudes, and awareness of PEI safety protocols from clinical staff and students at the SoD in 2019.

Methods

Retrospective data were collected from deidentified archival incident reports from 2009 to 2019 from the SoD's incident reporting system (UQSafe and Legacy Database). Additionally, cross-sectional data were collected via the validated Percutaneous Exposure Incident Questionnaires (PEIQ) completed by clinical staff and students of the SoD in 2019.

Results

From the archival data, the majority (79.9%) of the 618 reported PEIs involved students. Local anaesthetic-related procedures were the most common cause in the archival (31.5%) and survey data (23.7%), whereas the needle-prick was the most common causative instrument in both data sets. Additionally, the finger was the most common site of injury found in the archival (53.0%) and survey data (52.8%). From 345 responses to the survey, 42.1% of PEIs sustained were not reported.

Conclusions

Students were at a higher risk of sustaining a PEI than staff members between 2009 and 2019. The reported knowledge on PEI classification and preventative measures is inadequate, suggesting that further PEI education is necessary. The study provides evidence of the trends in PEIs as well as data on the attitudes and awareness of student and staff at a dental teaching faculty to support the development of PEI safety management protocols.

Overview of the National Occupational Mortality Surveillance (NOMS) system: leukemia and acute myocardial infarction risk by industry and occupation in 30 US states 1985-1999, 2003-2004, and 2007

BACKGROUND

Cancer and chronic disease are leading causes of death in the US with an estimated cost of $46 billion.

METHODS

We analyzed 11 million cause-specific deaths of US workers age 18-64 years in 30 states during 1985-1999, 2003-2004, and 2007 by occupation, industry, race, gender, and Hispanic origin.

RESULTS

The highest significantly elevated proportionate leukemia mortality was observed in engineers, protective service, and advertising sales manager occupations and in banks/savings &loans/credit agencies, public safety, and public administration industries. The highest significantly elevated smoking-adjusted acute myocardial infarction mortality was noted in industrial and refractory machinery mechanics, farmers, mining machine operators, and agricultural worker occupations; and wholesale farm supplies, agricultural chemical, synthetic rubber, and agricultural crop industries.

CONCLUSIONS

Significantly elevated risks for acute myocardial infarction and leukemia were observed across several occupations and industries that confirm existing reports and add new information. Interested investigators can access the NOMS website at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/NOMS/.

Interaction of occupational and personal risk factors in workforce health and safety

Most diseases, injuries, and other health conditions experienced by working people are multifactorial, especially as the workforce ages. Evidence supporting the role of work and personal risk factors in the health of working people is frequently underused in developing interventions. Achieving a longer, healthy working life requires a comprehensive preventive approach. To help develop such an approach, we evaluated the influence of both occupational and personal risk factors on workforce health. We present 32 examples illustrating 4 combinatorial models of occupational hazards and personal risk factors (genetics, age, gender, chronic disease, obesity, smoking, alcohol use, prescription drug use). Models that address occupational and personal risk factors and their interactions can improve our understanding of health hazards and guide research and interventions.

Cancer incidence among male Danish nurses, 1980-2003

BACKGROUND

The cancer risk of female nurses has been examined in several studies, but none has addressed the risk of male nurses, although they may be exposed to the same carcinogens as female nurses. In this register-based cohort study, we explored cancer incidence among male Danish nurses.

METHODS

We identified 3369 male nurses from the files of the Danish Nurses Association and followed them up from 1980 to 2003 in the Danish Cancer Registry. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated on the basis of standardized national rates. We compared the nurses with 3369 other male employees matched to the nurses by year of birth on social variables (vital and marital status).

FINDINGS

We observed 90 cancers in the cohort, with significantly increased SIRs for sarcomas and decreased SIRs for cancers of the respiratory system. When the cohort was stratified by educational generation and birth cohort, we observed significantly elevated relative risks for cancers of the brain and nervous system among the youngest nurses and for sarcomas among nurses in all educational generations and those born between 1945 and 1954.

CONCLUSION

The overall risk for cancer among male Danish registered nurses is similar to that of the general male Danish population. The high SIRs observed for cancers of the brain and nervous system merit further attention. The high relative risks for sarcomas and connective tissue tumours reflect a large proportion of cases of Kaposi sarcoma, which is probably not occupationally related.