1,720,977 research outputs found
Fish Anisakidae Helminthes in KHuzestan Province, South West of Iran
Full text linkFish including; Barbus spp, Cyprinus carpio, Liza abu and Aspius vorax have very important role in the economic condition of the rural areas of Khuzestan province. These fish have been consumed as fried or roasted. Inadequately cooked fish, could be served as a source of infection in these communities. For this reasons, 701 fish were trapped from 4 lagoons (Atash, Sobhanieh, Al-hai, Houfel) and transported alive to Ahwaz Health Research Center .Their skin, gills, eyes, muscles, intestine and body cavity were examined carefully. In 54 (7.7%) of fish,.6 cases of Contracaecum sp. (0.85%) and 48 Anisakis sp. (6.8%) were identified belong to helminth family of anisakidae. These results suggested that human anisakiasis could be health hazard in these areas
BIOLOGICAL RISKS TO FARMERS AND ANIMAL BREEDERS IN LOMBARDY REGION, NORTH OF ITALY
Full text linkObjectives: Animal breeding is associated with exposure to a wide variety of risk factors including zoonotic agents, organic dusts, endotoxins, allergens and other chemicals. This PhD project has been addressed at characterizing, at different levels, exposure to biological risks of farmers and animal breeders in the Region of Lombardy. The project has been developed in three main studies, as follows: 1. characterization of biological risks in animal breeders, with a particular focus on selected virus and bacteria; 2. Definition of the anti-tetanus coverage among agricultural workers of the Region in selected population subgroups; 3. study of the immune system function in these workers, through the determination of the serum concentrations of specific cytokines.
Methods: Two groups of farmers and animal breeders were included in the studies. Blood samples were collected from all the subjects and analysed for the presence of the following antibodies against zoonotic agents: Hepatitis E Virus (HEV), Salmonella, Brucella, Coxiella, Leptospira and Borrelia. In addition, selected serum parameters were measured, including cytokines IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, immunoglobulins and proteins, and total and differential white blood cell counts. In addition, level of Immunity to tetanus was investigated. Lung function was measured using a spirometer. Data was analysed using SPSS (version 19) and STATA (version 11) softwares.
Results: Prevalences of antibodies against HEV, Leptospira spp., Coxiella spp. and Borrelia spp., were 1.0, 54.7, 44.2 and 9.4%, respectively. Animal breeder workers had higher rates of IgG antibodies against Coxiella (51.6% vs 28.1%, P-value: 0.09) and Leptospira (59.4% vs. 43.7%, P-Value: 0.39) than farmers. None of the subjects showed antibodies against Salmonella spp and Brucella spp. Italian and other European workers had higher immunity to tetanus (93%) in comparison with non-EU workers (77.8%, P<0.01). There was a significant increase of TNF-alpha, IL-8 and IL-10 in animal breeders, and pig breeders had the highest values. Linear regression analysis revealed that there was a statistically difference between EU and Non-EU workers for some spirometry parameters.
Conclusion: Higher titers of antibodies to zoonotic agents in animal breeders indicates that they are probably more exposed to biological agents than other workers who are not involved in animal breeding activities. There must be more attention to the immunity status of tetanus among agricultural workers and in particular migrant workers and occupational health physicians should investigate about the history of immunization during health surveillance activities. The findings of the present study suggest a condition of immune system activation in animal breeders, with the highest levels observed in pig breeders. These changes may be attributable to exposure to organic dusts, endotoxins, or to the different biological agents present in the rural environment. In the curent study we did not point out any significant alteration in the values of spirometry tests between animal breeders and farmers. This data might suggest that, in the conditions of exposure of these workers, only slight sublclinical and adaptive changes are anticipated, but not conditions of overt disease. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to better understand the mechanisms for transmission of zoonotic infections and their potential reservoirs in northern Italy
Iron-deficiency anemia among children in southwest Iran
Full text linkBackground. Iron deficiency is a major health problem worldwide and especially in developing countries. Irondeficiency anemia has adverse effects on the development of children.
Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia in children under 5 years of age in southwest Iran. The study also sought to investigate the association between socioeconomic,demographic, cultural, and nutritional factors and iron-deficiency anemia in the selected area.
Methods. A randomized, cross-sectional study was performed of children 6 to 59 months of age living in urban and rural areas of Ahwaz District in Khuzestan Province. At eight randomly selected health centers, the
children’s height (or length) and weight were measured, and information on length and weight at birth was obtained from growth charts. Blood samples were taken from 337 randomly selected children.
Results. The results showed that 43.9% of the children had anemia and 29.1% iron-deficiency anemia. The highest prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia was in the 12- to 24-month age group. In the urban areas, infants 6
to 11 months of age had the highest prevalence of irondeficiency anemia.
Conclusions. The high prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia among children in southwest Iran indicates a major nutrition and health problem
Tuberculosis and cattle breeding : the case of an Egyptian milker
No full textOccupational health in breeding activities is strongly embedded with animal health. Tuberculosis (TB) – known for its critical progress and for the long duration of the drug treatment – has the specificity of a bi-directional infectious potential. Tuberculosis is still endemic in Africa, Asia and Balkan Area. Among these, the most risky regions for the disease are North Africa and India. In the Italian agricultural system, about 37000 migrants are legally employed, most of them in seasonal activities (e.g.: harvesting) but if we consider Northern Italy, we can easily find a significant presence of foreign workers also in animal breeding. In our experience, we have observed that people from India and North Africa are often involved in cattle breeding. Case-report This case report deals with a worker from Aegypt, employed as milker in an Italian enterprise since 1990. The worker, a 51 years old man, affected by chronic HCV, showed suddenly symptoms and signs suggesting lung TB (cough, haemoptysis, weight loss and thoracic pain). A diagnosis of lung TB was made in the past and the worker underwent a multidrug therapy. A re-activation of a silent lung TB due to the immunodepression linked to the chronic liver disease or to a new infection have been inquired with questionnaire. The diagnostic approach performed included BK search in the sputum, lung X-ray, Mantoux test, pulmonary evaluation. The worker was held temporarily not suitable for work. Consequences Preventive measures provide to perform Mantoux test to all milker’s colleagues and to perform tuberculin test to all animals reared. The occupational risk of TB to cattle breeders is discussed in light of bovine TB cases in Lombardy Region
Occupational Health in Mountainous Kyrgyzstan
Full text linkBACKGROUND:
In the period of transition from a centralized economy to the market economy, occupational health services in Kyrgyzstan have survived through dramatic, detrimental changes. It is common for occupational health regulations to be ignored and for basic occupational health services across many industrial enterprises and farms to be neglected.
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to demonstrate the present situation and challenges facing occupational health services in Kyrgyzstan.
FINDINGS:
The transition from centralized to the market economy in Kyrgyzstan has led to increased layoffs of workers and unemployment. These threats are followed by increased workload, and the health and safety of workers becomes of little concern. Private employers ignore occupational health and safety; consequently, there is under-reporting of occupational diseases and accidents. The majority of enterprises, especially those of small or medium size, are unsanitary, and the health status of workers remains largely unknown. The low official rates of occupational diseases are the result of data being deliberately hidden; lack of coverage of working personnel by medical checkups; incompetent management; and the poor quality of staff, facilities, and equipment. Because Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous country, the main environmental and occupational factor of enterprises is hypoxia. Occupational health specialists have greatly contributed to the development of occupational medicine in the mountains through science and practice.
CONCLUSIONS:
The enforcement of existing strong occupational health legislation and increased financing of occupational health services are needed. The maintenance of credible health monitoring and effective health services for workers, re-establishment of medical services and sanitary-hygienic laboratories in industrial enterprises, and support for scientific investigations on occupational risk assessment will increase the role of occupational health services in improving the health of the working population
Active search for occupational diseases in agriculture : our experience
No full textIntroduction Due to the prevalence of family based and self-employed workers ‘run enterprises, remoteness, and distance from health care structures, rural workers are very often not provided with occupational health care at the workplace and usually obtain from rural General Practitioners the only access to health care. Unfortunately, rural GPs are not usually fully aware about the risks and related diseases present in rural enterprises. As a consequence, occupational diseases in the sector are very likely underreported, with consequences in term of lack of compensation of occupational diseases and lack of knowledge on the real burden of disease attributable to specific risk factors, affecting the identification of priorities for prevention. Accessibility For these reasons, we have developed activities addressed at creating a system adequate to increase the access of rural workers to occupational health surveillance. One of the activities is the active search for occupational diseases. This activity is based on the examination of the existing records, an effort toward the interpretation of early signals of disease and the identification of areas of possible underreporting. Based on the indications provided by these activities, we run specific actions addressed at the identifying occupational diseases. These activities are based on the systematic health surveillance of workers and on the linkage between different administrative data sources. The use of the new Regional SISS repository is anticipated, and a pilot experience is running. Some Results In the first three years of activity, we have significantly increased the number of reports of noise-induced hearing loss, and we have pointed on the existence of a specific biological risk not fully anticipated before. Key aspect of our approach is increase of the activities carried out at the enterprise level, creation of specific data base and collaboration among all the professionals involved, in particular physicians, veterinarians and agronomists
La dieta come elemento cardine della promozione della salute nei luoghi di lavoro nella ricerca scientifica e nella pratica : primi risultati del progetto EU FAHRE
Full text linkDIET AS A KEY ELEMENT OF HEALTH PROMOTION AT THE WORKPLACE IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND PRACTICE. FIRST RESULTS OF THE EU PROJECT FAHRE. The globalization of markets have led to rapid changes in diet and lifestyle in the developed countries, where living standards have improved, and availability and variety of food has increased while physical activity decreases have led to an augment in chronic diseases (obesity and diabetes mellitus), cardiovascular diseases and some specific cancers. In this context there is a need to develop health promotion activities. Workers represent a very appropriate group for such activities because they are relatively homogeneous, easily reachable because they can be found together in the same place and time and the occupational physician has good knowledge of the of health status of individual worker. In this scenario, a renew interest must be posed to the relationship between diet and health. In this context our Group is participating at the FAHRE project (Food and
Health Research in Europe). The project aims to establish the state of the art of research at the interface of nutrition and health in the European Union, identifying its strengths and weaknesses in order to propose strategies to increase coordination and improve its functioning as a European Research Area
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Occupational exposure to biohazards and endotoxins among agricultural workers in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy
No full textPurpose. Farming is associated with a wide variety of hazardous exposures including physical, chemicals and biological agents. Animal farmers are exposed to dust, which contains microorganisms, mycotoxins, endotoxins, animal feed particles, allergens and chemical agents. Organic dust exposure is known to cause allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, and organic dust toxic syndrome. Measurements of serum cytokine levels have been performed as biomarkers and strong predictors of diseases in many epidemiologic studies. This study was undertaken to evaluate the relationship between occupational health hazards and serum pro-inflammatory cytokines among agricultural workers in north of Italy.
Methods. A pilot study was conducted in 2010 and One hundred subjects working in agricultural enterprises in the region of Lombardy were enrolled into the study. Serum cytokines including interleukin IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha were measured. Cytokines were assessed by commercially available enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results of the study. Compared to control subjects, increased TNF-alpha, IL-8 and IL-10 levels were found in animal breeders, with a statistically significant relationship between type of job (breeder/non breeder workers) and increased serum pro-inflammatory cytokines. Results suggest that animal breeders might be at higher risk of biological hazards than other farmers with less contact to animals. Blood cytokine assay may also be useful to identify individual responsiveness to endotoxins at work place. The relationship between exposure to organic dust, microorganisms, endotoxins and other chemicals in the work place and disease needs further research
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