Work-Related Tuberculosis among Health Workers Employed in a Tertiary Hospital in Northeastern Thailand: A Report of Nine Cases

Between October 2016 and September 2018, fifteen health workers were diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) at a tertiary hospital in northeastern Thailand. However, the cases could not be diagnosed as occupational TB according to international standards because of hospital limitations. The use of occupational epidemiological information provides a more effective work-related TB diagnosis. This study aims to provide a report of work-related TB using individual case investigation methods. We collected secondary data from the Occupational Health and Safety Office of the hospital in question, including baseline characteristics for the health workers, occupational history, source of TB infection and occupational exposure, and working environmental measurements. We found that nine of the fifteen cases were diagnosable as work-related TB due to two important factors: daily prolonged exposure time to an infected TB patient, and aerosol-generating procedures without adequate respiratory protection. The other six cases were not diagnosable as work-related TB because of inadequate evidence of activities related to the TB infection. The diagnosis of work-related TB thus requires occupational epidemiological information in order to complete the differentiation process.

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Coping with work-related stressors and building resilience in mental health workers: A comparative focus group study using interpretative phenomenological analysis

Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology ◽

10.1111/joop.12136 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 89 (3) ◽

pp. 474-492 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Danielle Lamb ◽

Nicola Cogan

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Focus Group ◽

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽

Health Workers ◽

Phenomenological Analysis ◽

Mental Health Workers ◽

Focus Group Study ◽

Work Related ◽

Building Resilience ◽

Work Related Stressors

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Community Health Workers Working the Digital Archive: A Case for Looking at Participatory Archiving in Studying Stigma in the Context of HIV and AIDS

Sociological Research Online ◽

10.5153/sro.2591 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 13-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Naydene De Lange ◽

Claudia Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Community Health ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Hiv And Aids ◽

Hiv Stigma ◽

Digital Archive ◽

Visual Data ◽

Community Members ◽

Work Related ◽

Kwazulu Natal

Addressing the issue of HIV-stigma is recognised as essential to reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS, enabling community members to access prevention, treatment and care. Often the very people who are able to contribute to solving the problem, are marginalised and do not see ways to insert themselves into dialogues related to combating stigma. Community health workers in rural South Africa are one such group. At the heart of the research discussed in this article is an intervention based on participatory analysis through participatory archiving ( Shilton and Srinivasan 2008 ). Drawing on participatory work with thirteen community health workers in rural KwaZulu-Natal, we use a digital archive containing HIV-stigma visual data - generated five years earlier by youth in the community - to engage the participants in the analysis. Drawing on such participatory work as Jenkins’ participatory cultures framework, we focus on the idea of re-using, re-coding, and re-mixing visual data. One participant stated that “these pictures talk about the real issues faced by our communities”, highlighting the value of resources generated by community members themselves. They also indicate that they “could use [the resources] to teach the cons of stigmatising”. A key concern in work related to visual images (particularly in projects such as ours where a large amount of visual data is produced) is to consider ways of extending its life through the use of community-based digital archives.

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Visual loss from mismanaged ocular injury with foreign body impaction: A Case Report

Annals of Health Research ◽

10.30442/ahr.0402-12-23 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 198-204

Author(s):

Ifedayo O. Akintoye ◽

Caroline O. Adeoti

Keyword(s):

Foreign Body ◽

Health Workers ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Tertiary Hospital ◽

Health Concern ◽

Ocular Injury ◽

Eye Injuries ◽

Health Extension Workers ◽

Foreign Body Impaction ◽

Upper Lid

Ocular injury occurs commonly and it may lead to visual impairment if it is not properly managed. We report the case of a 35-year old man with a retained infected ocular foreign body in his right eye following an injury. The foreign body was not discovered despite consulting non-ophthalmologists at a Maternity Centre and an Optical Shop over a period of ten days. At presentation at the Specialist Hospital, he was unable to see with swelling of the eyelid, red eye and discharge. On examination, the visual acuity in the affected eye was NLP and an infected stick that penetrated the eyeball was discovered in the superonasal aspect of sclera covered by the swollen upper lid. This resulted in endophthalmitis, cataract and blindness of that eye. Ocular injuries must be promptly referred to the ophthalmologist for appropriate care and to prevent complications. The case clearly showed a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for paramedics who encounter eye injuries outside the tertiary hospital setting. Therefore, this report raises public health concern intended to increase awareness on the management of eye injuries. The incorporation of Primary Eye Health into Primary Health Care along with training and re-training of Community Health Extension Workers, General Practitioners and other rural health workers cannot be overemphasized.

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Analysis of Role Stress in the Indian IT Industry

Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals - Advances in Information Security, Privacy, and Ethics ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-5297-0.ch001 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1-23

Author(s):

Shubhangini Rathore

Keyword(s):

Prolonged Exposure ◽

Service Industry ◽

Demographic Factors ◽

Role Stress ◽

It Industry ◽

Work Related ◽

Mind And Body ◽

Related Stress ◽

The Mind

Contemporary industries face new competition requiring employees to work for longer hours under competitive time-bound deadlines. Prolonged exposure to such stressful situations leads to a depletion and exhaustion of resources in the mind and body with dysfunctional effects on job performance and overall organizational effectiveness. The Indian IT industry is a fast-paced service industry that is characterized by such stressful work situations and related outcomes. This chapter analyses the various factors that contribute to organizational stress and the role of demographic factors on role stress among the professionals of the Indian IT industry. A sample of 250 employees has been collected from the Delhi NCR region. Role stress has been measured by using the ORS scale which comprises of 10 dimensions of the role of stress that are measured by 50 items. The results show that there is a considerable amount of work related stress along with a significant impact of demographic factors on the role of stress amongst the IT professionals.

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Staff recognition and its importance for surgical service delivery: a qualitative study in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Health Policy and Planning ◽

10.1093/heapol/czaa131 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chris Willott ◽

Nick Boyd ◽

Haja Wurie ◽

Isaac Smalle ◽

T B Kamara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Sierra Leone ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Tertiary Hospital ◽

Health Providers ◽

Care Providers ◽

Access And Quality ◽

Frontline Healthcare Workers ◽

Surgical System

Abstract We examined the views of providers and users of the surgical system in Freetown, Sierra Leone on processes of care, job and service satisfaction and barriers to achieving quality and accessible care, focusing particularly on the main public tertiary hospital in Freetown and two secondary and six primary sites from which patients are referred to it. We conducted interviews with health care providers (N = 66), service users (n = 24) and people with a surgical condition who had chosen not to use the public surgical system (N = 13), plus two focus groups with health providers in primary care (N = 10 and N = 10). The overall purpose of the study was to understand perceptions on processes of and barriers to care from a variety of perspectives, to recommend interventions to improve access and quality of care as part of a larger study. Our research suggests that providers perceive their relationships with patients to be positive, while the majority of patients see the opposite: that many health workers are unapproachable and uncaring, particularly towards poorer patients who are unable or unwilling to pay staff extra in the form of informal payments for their care. Many health care providers note the importance of lack of recognition shown to them by their superiors and the health system in general. We suggest that this lack of recognition underlies poor morale, leading to poor care. Any intervention to improve the system should therefore consider staff–patient relations as a key element in its design and implementation, and ideally be led and supported by frontline healthcare workers.

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The Sensor-Based Biomechanical Risk Assessment at the Base of the Need for Revising of Standards for Human Ergonomics

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20205750 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (20) ◽

pp. 5750

Author(s):

Alberto Ranavolo ◽

Arash Ajoudani ◽

Andrea Cherubini ◽

Matteo Bianchi ◽

Lars Fritzsche ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

International Standards ◽

Motor Tasks ◽

Traditional Methods ◽

Manual Handling ◽

Heavy Loads ◽

Human Augmentation ◽

Human Robot Collaboration

Due to the epochal changes introduced by “Industry 4.0”, it is getting harder to apply the varying approaches for biomechanical risk assessment of manual handling tasks used to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMDs) considered within the International Standards for ergonomics. In fact, the innovative human–robot collaboration (HRC) systems are widening the number of work motor tasks that cannot be assessed. On the other hand, new sensor-based tools for biomechanical risk assessment could be used for both quantitative “direct instrumental evaluations” and “rating of standard methods”, allowing certain improvements over traditional methods. In this light, this Letter aims at detecting the need for revising the standards for human ergonomics and biomechanical risk assessment by analyzing the WMDs prevalence and incidence; additionally, the strengths and weaknesses of traditional methods listed within the International Standards for manual handling activities and the next challenges needed for their revision are considered. As a representative example, the discussion is referred to the lifting of heavy loads where the revision should include the use of sensor-based tools for biomechanical risk assessment during lifting performed with the use of exoskeletons, by more than one person (team lifting) and when the traditional methods cannot be applied. The wearability of sensing and feedback sensors in addition to human augmentation technologies allows for increasing workers’ awareness about possible risks and enhance the effectiveness and safety during the execution of in many manual handling activities.

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Factors Associated with Latent Tuberculosis Infection among the Hospital Employees in a Tertiary Hospital of Northeastern Thailand

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17186876 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (18) ◽

pp. 6876

Author(s):

Patimaporn Chanpho ◽

Naesinee Chaiear ◽

Supot Kamsa-ard

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Latent Tuberculosis Infection ◽

Conditional Logistic Regression ◽

Critical Role ◽

Latent Tuberculosis ◽

Tertiary Hospital ◽

Tuberculosis Infection ◽

P Value ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Northeastern Thailand

Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) can develop into tuberculosis (TB). The WHO requires the discovery and management of LTBI among high-risk groups. Health care workers (HCWs) constitute a high-risk group. Factors associated with LTBI among HCWs in Thailand need further study. The current study aimed to explore the factors related to LTBI among Thai HCWs. A hospital-based, matched case-control study was conducted. All cases and controls were HCWs at a tertiary hospital in northeastern Thailand. Between 2017 and 2019, a total of 85 cases of interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs)-proven LTBI, and 170 control subjects were selected from a hospital (two controls per case). The two recruited controls were individually matched with LTBI cases by sex and age (±5 years). Secondary data were obtained from the occupational health and safety office. Case HCWs had a higher proportion of significant factors than control HCWs (i.e., working closely with pulmonary TB—94.1% vs. 88.8%, and working in the area of aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) 81.2% vs. 69.4%). The bivariate conditional logistic regression showed that the occurrence of LTBI in HCWs was statistically significant (p-value < 0.05), particularly with respect to: workplaces of AGPs (crude OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.01–3.58, p = 0.041); among HCWs performing AGPs (crude OR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.20, 3.48, p = 0.007); and, absent Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) scar (crude OR = 2.59, 95% CI: 1.50–4.47, p = 0.001). Based on the multivariable conditional logistics analysis, HCWs who performed AGPs while contacting TB cases had a statistically significant association with LTBI (adjusted OR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.04–3.20, p = 0.035). HCWs who reported the absence of a BCG scar had a statistically significant association with LTBI (adjusted OR = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.65–5.36, p = 0.001), whereas other factors including close contact with TB (adjusted OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 0.74, 8.09, p = 0.123) were not significantly associated with LTBI. In conclusion, HCWs who performed AGPs and were absent a BCG scar had a significant association with LTBI, while other factors played a less critical role.

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Airborne or Droplet Precautions for Health Workers Treating Coronavirus Disease 2019?

The Journal of Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/infdis/jiaa189 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 122

Author(s):

Prateek Bahl ◽

Con Doolan ◽

Charitha de Silva ◽

Abrar Ahmad Chughtai ◽

Lydia Bourouiba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Workers ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Spatial Separation ◽

Evidence Base ◽

Aged Care ◽

World Health ◽

Horizontal Distance ◽

Respiratory Protection ◽

Control And Prevention ◽

Health Organization

Abstract Cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported in more than 200 countries. Thousands of health workers have been infected, and outbreaks have occurred in hospitals, aged care facilities, and prisons. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued guidelines for contact and droplet precautions for healthcare workers caring for suspected COVID-19 patients, whereas the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has initially recommended airborne precautions. The 1- to 2-meter (≈3–6 feet) rule of spatial separation is central to droplet precautions and assumes that large droplets do not travel further than 2 meters (≈6 feet). We aimed to review the evidence for horizontal distance traveled by droplets and the guidelines issued by the WHO, CDC, and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on respiratory protection for COVID-19. We found that the evidence base for current guidelines is sparse, and the available data do not support the 1- to 2-meter (≈3–6 feet) rule of spatial separation. Of 10 studies on horizontal droplet distance, 8 showed droplets travel more than 2 meters (≈6 feet), in some cases up to 8 meters (≈26 feet). Several studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) support aerosol transmission, and 1 study documented virus at a distance of 4 meters (≈13 feet) from the patient. Moreover, evidence suggests that infections cannot neatly be separated into the dichotomy of droplet versus airborne transmission routes. Available studies also show that SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in the air, and remain viable 3 hours after aerosolization. The weight of combined evidence supports airborne precautions for the occupational health and safety of health workers treating patients with COVID-19.

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