Occupational Infections and Preventive Measures: An Update

Abstract

There are many infections which are closely associated with certain occupations, whereby the workers are put at a higher risk of being contracted with certain infections in the work setup. Occupational hazards are classified as being either physical (high temperature or pressure) or chemical (organic solvents and chemicals) or biological (virus, bacteria, fungi) hazard. Sometimes the prevalent occupation-associated life-style results in higher risk of exposure to the infections. These hazards vary amongst different work-setups. Biological hazards are particularly important in industries like agriculture, livestock, healthcare, slaughtering, etc. The doses as well as frequency of exposure are important factors that need to be considered. Physicians very often miss the thin but important link between an infection and the workplace setup, either due to difficulty in linking the infection to the setup or lack of awareness thereof of the physician. Precautions should be carefully taken for avoiding these occupational infections/diseases. There can be many channels for micro-organisms to evade the body to cause infection, such as through inhalation, direct skin contacts and mucous membrane. The need of sophisticated molecular tests has been a bottle-neck for proper diagnosis and reporting of such cases. However this needs to be addressed for proper implementation of precautionary measures. Various occupational safety laws also direct the patients to claim monetary compensation under certain cases. The benefits also extend to those who are totally or partially disabled as a result of the infection. There should be proper monitoring for accurately tracking all cases of occupationally acquired infections, which may or may not lead to death of the patient. This article provides a brief review of few of the common occupational infections like tuberculosis, Streptococcus suis infection, parentally contracted viral hepatitis, Legionnaires’ disease, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Q fever, etc., and some of the effective preventive measures which can be implemented to prevent these.