Prioritizing high-contact occupations raises effectiveness of vaccination campaigns

A twenty-year-old idea from network science is that vaccination campaigns would be more effective if high-contact individuals were preferentially targeted. Implementation is impeded by the ethical and practical problem of differentiating vaccine access based on a personal characteristic that is hard-to-measure and private. Here, we propose the use of occupational category as a proxy for connectedness in a contact network. Using survey data on occupation-specific contact frequencies, we calibrate a model of disease propagation in populations undergoing varying vaccination campaigns. We find that vaccination campaigns that prioritize high-contact occupational groups achieve similar infection levels with half the number of vaccines, while also reducing and delaying peaks. The paper thus identifies a concrete, operational strategy for dramatically improving vaccination efficiency in ongoing pandemics.

Is occupational physical activity associated with all-cause mortality in UK Biobank?

ABSTRACTObjectivesTo investigate associations between occupational physical activity (OPA) and all-cause mortality.MethodsFrom baseline (2006-2010), 452,884 UK Biobank participants (aged 40-69 years) were followed for a median 11.1 (IQR: 10.4-11.8) years. OPA was categorised by cross-tabulating degree of manual work and walking/standing work amongst those in paid employment (n=264,424), whereas categories of occupational status were used for those not in paid employment (n=188,460). Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for all-cause mortality by occupational category, and for working hours/week and non-occupational physical activity stratified by occupational category.ResultsDuring 4,965,616 person-years of follow-up, 23,310 deaths occurred. Compared to those in sedentary jobs, retirement was associated with lower mortality in women (HR=0.74, CI:0.68-0.81) and men (HR=0.85, CI:0.79-0.92), whereas unemployment was associated with higher mortality in men (HR=1.26, CI:1.10-1.45). There was no evidence of mortality differences by OPA category within the working population. Working <35 hours/week versus 35-40 hours/week was associated with lower mortality in both women (HR=0.86, CI:0.79-0.93) and men (HR=0.81, CI:0.75-0.88), with no interaction by OPA. Non-occupational physical activity was associated with lower mortality in both women (HR=0.90 per 5 kJ/day/kg, CI:0.84-0.96) and men (HR=0.88 per 5 kJ/day/kg, CI:0.84-0.92), with no interaction by OPA.ConclusionWork classified as having higher levels of OPA may not be as active as reported, or the types of physical activity performed in those jobs are not health-enhancing. Irrespective of OPA category or employment status, non-occupational physical activity appears to provide health benefits.SUMMARY BOXWhat are the new findings?Retirement was associated with lower all-cause mortality, compared to having a sedentary job in both men and women but unemployment was only associated with higher mortality in men.There were no differences in mortality between categories with different levels of self-reported OPAPhysical activity outside of work was associated with lower hazard of all-cause mortality and there was no interaction with occupational physical activity, indicating similar benefits across different jobs types.How might it impact on clinical practice in the future?Health professionals should be aware that occupations assumed to involve more physical activity may not be as active as reported, or the types of physical activity performed in those jobs may not be health-enhancing.Physical activity during leisure-time should continue to be recommended to adults of all paid and unpaid occupational categories.

Involvement of Workers in Closed and Semiclosed Institutions in Outbreaks of Acute Gastroenteritis Due to Norovirus

Norovirus outbreaks frequently occur in closed or semiclosed institutions. Recent studies in Catalonia and various countries indicate that, during outbreaks in these institutions, norovirus is detected in between 23% and 60% of workers, and the prevalence of infection in asymptomatic workers involved in outbreaks ranges from 17% to 40%. In this work, we carried out a prospective study to investigate the involvement of workers in closed and semiclosed institutions during outbreaks. The attack rates (ARs) and the rate ratios (RRs) were calculated according to the type of transmission and occupational category. The RRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between workers and users were calculated. The mean cycle of quantification (Cq) values were compared according to the genogroup and the presence of symptoms. ARs were higher in person-to-person transmission than in common vehicle outbreaks, and 38.8% of workers were symptomatic. The RR between workers and users was 0.46 (95% CI 0.41–0.52). The ARs in workers were high, particularly in workers with closer contact with users. The mean Cq was lower in patients than in asymptomatic infected persons, although the difference was only significant for genogroup I (GI). The frequency of asymptomatic infected persons suggests that personal hygiene measures should be followed by all workers in the centers affected.

Hubungan Pendidikan dan Pekerjaan Ibu dengan Pemakaian Alat Kontrasepsi Dalam Rahim (AKDR)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between education and occupation of the mother with the use of contraceptive devices in the womb at the Taba Puskesmas Lubuklinggau in 2019. The research method used an analytical survey method with a cross sectional approach. Univariate analysis results obtained from 50 acceptors revealed that a small proportion of respondents did not use contraceptive IUD as many as 9 respondents (18%), respondents in the education category most respondents were educated as many as 30 respondents (60%) in the occupational category (having good jobs) totaling 22 respondents (44%). In conclusion, there is a significant relationship between mother's education and the use of the IUD. no relationship between maternal occupation and IUD use was not statistically proven. Keywords: Employment, IUD Use, Education

How Important Are Linguistic Competencies on the German Labour Market? a Qualitative Content Analysis of Job Advertisements

Linguistic competencies (LC) are in many companies and industries an essential prerequisite for employees to accomplish tasks and integrate into a job. Under this premise, this paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the relevance of LC in Job advertisements (J-Ads) in the German labour market. The main purpose of the research is to uncover the different importance of LC in the respective officially occupational category (OC) to examine whether connections between required LC and the tasks from the J-Ads. Therefore, this research represents an analysis of LC with regard to J-Ads, which was conducted on the basis of a qualitative content analysis. For the methodology of the research, 180 J-Ads were examined on the criteria of KLdB 2010. The investigation took place in a period from November 2018 to February 2019. The paper provides first evidence for the different importance of LC for the different OC and indicates ambiguities within J-Ads. Given evidence there are considerable inconsistent discrepancies between the required LC for applicants and the tasks to be performed, which can lead to inefficiencies in the recruiting process. The study confirms and proves that, in addition to implementation and conceptual problems, some management questions regarding the exploitation of LC in J-Ads can also be optimized through improved awareness and clarification of the ambiguity of the competence term.

Daily Physical Activity by Occupational Classification in US Adults: NHANES 2005–2006

Background: Little is known about the daily physical activity (PA) levels of people employed in different occupational categories. Methods: Nine ActiGraph accelerometer-derived daily PA variables are presented and ranked for adults (N = 1465, 20–60 y) working in the 22 occupational categories assessed by NHANES 2005–2006. A composite score was generated for each occupational category by summing the rankings of 3 accelerometer-derived daily PA variables known to have strong associations with health outcomes (total activity counts [TAC], moderate to vigorous PA minutes per week in modified 10-minute bouts [MVPA 10], and percentage of time spent in sedentary activity [SB%]). Results: Classified as high-activity occupational categories, “farming, fishing, forestry,” and “building & grounds cleaning, maintenance” occupations had the greatest TAC (461 996 and 449 452), most MVPA 10 (149.6 and 97.8), most steps per day (10 464 and 11 602), and near the lowest SB% (45.2% and 45.4%). “Community, social services” occupations, classified as low-activity occupational categories, had the second lowest TAC (242 085), least MVPA 10 (12.1), fewest steps per day (5684), and near the highest SB% (64.2%). Conclusions: There is a strong association between occupational category and daily activity levels. Objectively measured daily PA permitted the classification of the 22 different occupational categories into 3 activity groupings.

Digital Marketing Communication and Car Buying: A Study of Potential Deterrents

The present study aims to identify the potential deterrents of digital marketing communication while buying a car. Data was collected from 801 respondents from Delhi using area wise proportionate sampling. 75% of the respondents used at least one digital channel of communication while buying a car. There were 25% of the respondents who didn’t use digital channels of communication while buying a car and relied exclusively upon traditional channels of communication. The study analyzed the respondents believing only in traditional channels of communication while buying a car to know the deterrents impeding the usage of digital channels of communication. The study also aimed to identify the distinct customers segments using traditional channels of communication while buying a car. Data was analyzed with the help of chi-square test and cluster analysis. ‘Technicality’ of the medium followed by ‘lack of knowledge and time’ were identified as the major deterrents of digital marketing communication. Two customer segments were identified in the study that made use of only traditional channels of communication while buying a car. First segment comprised of respondents ‘above 40 years of age’ belonging to ‘business’ category. Second segment was composed of respondents in ‘service’ occupational category belonging to ‘26 to 30 years age’ group.