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May 22, 2010
Occupational and
Environmental Medicine
Conference: Genetics in the Workplace
Please join us for our Spring Occupational Safety
and Health
Conference, "Genetics in the Workplace:
Science,
Medicine, Legislation and Regulation... How does it all
connect?"," scheduled on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at the
Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD.
Recent advances in the field of genetics and
passage of the
new Genetic Information and Non-discrimination Act (GINA) are already
impacting
workplace safety and health programs. The upcoming conference will
feature
presentations in the area of genetics, law and policy and provide an
opportunity
to discuss how your practice or program may be impacted.
We would like to give you an opportunity to ask
questions
during this session. We invite you to send in your questions before the
conference to John Piacentino (johnpiacentino@msn.com) or bring your
questions with you. Finally, if you know of an early career
occupational
safety and health professional, please invite them to attend.
BOSTON - The Internet has had a profound effect on clinical practice by providing both physicians and patients with a wealth of information. But with those rewards come risks of incorrect or poorly interpreted information that require that a doctor "never be optional.""
Surgical Masks Provided Effective Protection of Health-Care
Workers Against H1N1, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2010) The effectiveness of ordinary surgical masks
as opposed to respirators in protecting health care workers against the 2009
H1N1 influenza virus has been the subject of debate. An observational study
published in the April 1, 2010 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, available
online, suggests that surgical masks are just as effective as respirators in
this regard.Read more:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100325143055.htm
Chemical
Exposure Before Mid-30s May Be Critical in Breast Cancer Development
ScienceDaily
(Apr. 1, 2010)Occupational exposure to certain
chemicals and pollutants before a woman reaches her mid-30s could treble her
risk of developing cancer after the menopause, suggests research published in Occupational and Environmental
Medicine.Read more:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100331201539.htm
Desk Ergonomics Seminar presented by Stephen Sarro
Thank you to Stephen Sarro for helping us understand that desk work can cause injury to some people. The way a work station is configured can
cause injury and disability to the spine and extremities. Stephen explained to us, with demonstration and hands-on practice, how to assess the individual for potential nerve and muscle stressors, and to set up a desk
for the best possible bio-mechanics. Stephen met his goal that we left this one hour lecture more confident in our ability to perform
ergonomic assessments.
Contact Stephen for training or ergonomic assessments: stephen.sarro@ssptdc.com Sports and Spinal Physical Therapy
Stephen Sarro, PT OMT
Assessing potential neck muscle involvement
Assessiong potential arm nerve involvement
White rye bread leads to better insulin and blood sugar levels
Research at the Lund University Faculty of Engineering shows that bread baked with white rye flour, which is flour made from the inner, white part of the rye kernel, leads to better insulin and blood sugar levels compared with wheat bread with rye bran. Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100212210212.htm
CHEMICAL TERRORISM FOR THE CLINICIAN: DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT
DATE: This program is scheduled nine times in 2010! FREE
Choose ONE: March 1, 2, 8, 12, 30; April 1, 6, 9, 12
TIME: 8:45 am - 2:30 pm
LOCATION: National Capital Poison Center 3201 New Mexico Avenue, NW, Suite 310 Washington, DC 20016
TO REGISTER: E-mail to ferguson@poison.org Call 202-362-3867 to request a registration form.
Visit www.poison.org and click on "Course Registration" to download a registration form.
Registrations will be confirmed by email. Directions will be sent with confirmation.
Programs fill quickly so do not assume you are registered unless you receive a confirmation.
FOR QUESTIONS: Contact Rennie Ferguson at 202-895-4263 or ferguson@poison.org.
Educational Information from CDC - joint venture with Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
The Roadmap (http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/roadmap/index.htm ) is a step-by-step guide for HDSP
public health practitioners in the systematic approach to developing a
state-level HDSP program.
The steps arelisted on
the right hand side menu along with a link to resources and training, which you
may especially find useful.
Web-based CDCynergy for HeartDisease and Stroke Prevention
(http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/CDCynergy_training/) a self-guided tutorial on
developing health communication campaigns related to heartdisease and stroke prevention.
CDC/HDSP's home page (http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/index.htm)- this page will give you an overview of many ofthe resources available from
CDC HDSP
CDC/HDSP's annual meeting page
(http://www.orau.gov/hsc/hdspinstitute/ )- ORISE provides technical assistance annually to
CDC/HDSP's meeting which includes workshops and training on HDSP's
program priorities. We create this page after the meeting every year and
post the informational and training materials from the meeting.
Want more info:
A.M. Lindsey, Group Manager, Health Training Health and Safety Communications, MS -10
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
PO Box 117
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0117
865-576-2267 (6264 fax) AM.Lindsey@orise.orau.gov
What's New in STD, HIV, Family Planning, and Addictions
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
8:30am - 3:45pm (registration begins at 8:00am)
No fee. Lunch will be provided.
Location:
Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University
800 Florida Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002
Speakers:
Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD, MPH Howard University
Carmen E. Greiner, MS, LPC, LSATP, MAC Lighthouse Counseling
Mark Hathaway, MD, MPH Washington Hospital Center
Anne Rompalo, MD, ScM Johns Hopkins University
To Register Contact :
Andrew D. Wheeler
Community Health Educator
Inova Juniper Program
Phone: 703-321-2903
Fax: 703-321-2603 andrew.wheeler@inova.org
Two Not-to-be-Missed Johns Hopkins Educational Programs!
JOHNS HOPKINS EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER IN COOPERATION WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, AND HUMAN SERVICES PRESENT:
PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT FOR NURSES
March 15 & 16, 2010
Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
525 N. Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
This Course is Designed for all Nurses Who Desire:
To learn how to take an occupational health history
To learn normal and abnormal characteristics of the physical exam for the occupational setting
A hands-on course taught by experienced Johns Hopkins School of Nursing faculty
OVERVIEW OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH NURSING
March 17, 18 & 19, 2010
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 North Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
This Course is Designed for Occupational Health Nurses Who Desire:
Intensive Preparation for the ABOHN Certification Exam
In-depth Review of the Principles and Practice of Occupational Health Nursing
Comprehensive Course Study for Nurses New to the Field of Occupational Health
TO REGISTER:
Download a registration form at: www.jhsph.edu/erc/ce/ohnbrochure.html
or contact: Keith Choi, Program Assistant ERC Continuing Education
410-955-4088 (voice) 410-614-4986 (fax) or e-mail: kchoi@jhsph.edu
FACULTY:
Johns Hopkins faculty and associates.
FEE:
Includes course handouts, continental breakfasts, and refreshment breaks. Full-time JHU faculty, staff, and eligible dependents may enroll under the terms of the JHU Tuition Remission Program.
STUDY DISKS:
DataChem study disk available for purchase at discount rate of $150.
HOTELS:
Convenient hotels can be found on our web site: www.jhsph.edu/erc/ce - Click on "Baltimore Hotels"
TUITION:
* Course fee is $425 before March 1, $475 after March 1.
** Course fee is $495 before March 3, $545 after March 3.
Johns Hopkins reserves the right to cancel the course. Registration, less a $50 service charge, is returnable if written notice of cancellation is received two weeks prior to course start date.
No refunds will be issued for cancellations after that time. The full enrollment fee will be returned if the course is cancelled.
The
world is a dangerously contaminated place. While you're certainly aware
of many common health risks and germ factories, we went looking for
less-known hazards that lurk where we sleep, eat and frolic.
Hotels
and motels are among the leading culprits for spreading disease. In
August 2009, media reports revealed that state inspectors from the
Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants, which includes the
resort-happy city of Orlando, inspected 7,000 hotels and motels and
found 27,000 health and safety violations. Showerheads, doorknobs,
drinking glasses, saunas, tubs, swimming pools, Tylenol overdose for
hangovers, energy drinks, radiation risk from CT Scans, and more.
NIAID Scientists Propose New
Explanation for Flu Virus Antigenic Drift
Influenza viruses evade
infection-fighting antibodies by constantly changing the shape of their major
surface protein. This shape-shifting, called antigenic drift, is why
influenza vaccines - which are designed to elicit antibodies matched to each
year's circulating virus strains - must be reformulated annually. Now,
researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
part of the National Institutes of Health, have proposed a new explanation
for the evolutionary forces that drive antigenic drift. The findings in mice,
using a strain of seasonal influenza virus first isolated in 1934, also
suggest that antigenic drift might be slowed by increasing the number of
children vaccinated against influenza.
Scott Hensley, Ph.D., Jonathan W.
Yewdell, M.D., Ph.D., and Jack R. Bennink, Ph.D., led the research team,
whose findings appear in the current issue of Science."Our model predicts that decreasing the
immunologically naive population - by increasing the number of children
vaccinated against influenza, for example - could slow the rate of antigenic
drift and extend the duration of effectiveness of seasonal influenza
vaccines," he says.
Reference: SE Hensley et al. Hemagglutinin receptor binding avidity
drives influenza A virus antigenic drift. Science. DOI:
10.1126/science.1178258 (2009).
Tiny carbon nanotubes are being considered for use in
everything from sports equipment to medical applications, but a great deal
remains unknown about whether these materials cause respiratory or other health
problems. Now a collaborative study from North Carolina State University, The
Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, and the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences shows that inhaling these nanotubes can affect
the outer lining of the lung, though the effects of long-term exposure remain
unclear.
Using mice in an animal model study, the researchers set out
to determine what happens when multi-walled carbon nanotubes are inhaled.
Specifically, researchers wanted to determine whether the nanotubes would be
able to reach the pleura, which is the tissue that lines the outside of the
lungs and is affected by exposure to certain types of asbestos fibers which
cause the cancer mesothelioma. The researchers used inhalation exposure and
found that inhaled nanotubes do reach the pleura and cause health effects. Inhaled carbon nanotubes accumulate within cells at the
pleural lining of the lung as visualized by light microscopy.
Short-term studies described in the paper do not allow
conclusions about long-term responses such as cancer. However, the inhaled
nanotubes "clearly reach the target tissue for mesothelioma and cause a
unique pathologic reaction on the surface of the pleura, and caused
fibrosis," says Dr. James Bonner, associate professor of environmental and
molecular toxicology at NC State and senior author of the study.
New laryngoscope could make difficult intubations easier
AUGUSTA, Ga. - A new tool developed by a Medical College of
Georgia resident and faculty member may make it easier to place assisted
breathing devices under difficult circumstances.About 2 percent of patients that undergo the
process, called intubation, experience complications - regardless if it's
performed in an emergency situation or prior to surgery. During normal
intubation, a physician stands behind a patient's head and uses a metal scope
to open the mouth and guide a flexible plastic tube into the trachea. The tube
is used to maintain a patient's airway and provide a pathway for mechanical
ventilation if necessary.Difficult
intubations can be traumatic for patients and lead to problems such as cracked
teeth, he says.
To make those intubations easier, the physicians
developed the Video Rigid Flexible Laryngoscope.The device is the first of its kind to merge
two technologies - video and articulation, he says. It's being used
successfully at MCGHealth Medical Center and at other hospitals in California,
North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.
Pain In The Neck: Too
Much Texting Could Lead To Overuse Injuries
ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2009) The world record for fastest
text message typing is held by a 21-year old college student from Utah, but his
dexterous digits could mean serious injury later on. Most adults aged 18-21
prefer texting over e-mail or phone calls, and ergonomics researchers are
starting to wonder whether it's putting the younger generation at risk for some
overuse injuries -- once reserved for older adults who have spent years in
front of a computer.
Judith Gold, an assistant professor of Epidemiology at the
College of Health Professions and Social Work, thinks this might be the case.
At this year's annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, she
presented preliminary research which suggested that among college students, the
more they texted, the more pain they had in their neck and shoulders.
World Trade Center responders plagued with asthma:Reported asthma in 9/11 responders 2X greater
than general population
Responders to the 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist
attacks, who were exposed to caustic dust and toxic pollutants following the
9/11 disaster, suffer from asthma at a rate more than twice that of the general
US population, according to new research presented at CHEST 2009, the 75th
annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians
(ACCP).
As many as 8 percent of the workers and volunteers who
engaged in rescue and recovery, essential service restoration, and cleanup
efforts in the wake of 9/11 reported experiencing post-9/11 asthma attacks or
episodes, compared with 4 percent of the general population. Furthermore, the
lifetime prevalence of asthma in WTC responders was marked by a dramatic
increase from 3 percent pre-9/11 to a high of 16 percent in each of the years
from 2005 through 2007.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Dinner Meeting Presentation
AIDS in D.C.: Prevention, Detection, and Treatment
Has the AIDS epidemic subsided - why don't we hear much about it anymore? Do Occupational Health Nurses have any role in the national effort to combat Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome? We heard the answers to these questions and receivedt a comprehensive update on the status of HIV+ infections in the Metropolitan D.C. area.
Presented by Dr. Lisa
Fitzpatrick, Infectious Disease Specialist who is the Director of the HIV clinic at Howard University and Director of the AIDS Education Training
Center.
In this one hour lecture, Dr. Fitzpatrick updated our knowledge about
treatment, prevention, and detection of this disease and how we can be
more AIDS-Aware in our clinical practice. 1.0 Nursing CEU were awarded
by the Juniper Program, funded by the federal Health Resource Services
Administration.
This article is by an RN, Amy Knowles, with public health and emergency care experience who while participating in the University of Tennessee School of Nursing Department of Homeland Security Program, became aware of the U.S./Japan Radiation Effects Research Foundation and its work with survivors of the A-Bomb blasts of WWII. This is an interesting description of the research she did in her dissertation. The short PDF contains her story. To learn more contact Dr. Knowles at: aknowles@utk.edu
MWAOHN members had the pleasure of participating in a training activity by a gifted speaker on the topic of stress in nurses. The focus was on us as health professionals: how we help ourselves with new ways of stress reduction.
Ms. Preeti Chandramani, Masters of Science in Industrial Management and Masters of Arts in Organizational Psychology, conducted the training, entertaining us with many charming allegories and analogies from her ancestors and culture.
Ms. Chandramani helped us identify stressors, determine which we could manage, and interventions to help us become more resilient in our professional lives.
We highly recommend Ms. Chandramani if you are looking for a dynamic, interesting speaker for your organization.
Study Shows Common Pain Cream Could Protect Heart During Attack
CINCINNATI - New
research from the University of Cincinnati shows that a common,
over-the-counter pain salve rubbed on the skin during a heart attack
could serve as a cardiac-protectant, preventing or reducing damage to
the heart while interventions are administered. They also found that a small incision made on the abdomen triggered an 81 percent reduction. "Both
this and the capsaicin effect are shown to work through similar
neurological mechanisms," Keith Jones, PhD says. "These are the most powerful
cardioprotective effects recorded to date. We
think that this technique is fooling the body into sending out
protective signals, Jones adds. This may be similar to the way
certain acupuncture treatments work; there may be a neurological basis.
In a broad sense, this work may provide a 'Rosetta stone' for
translating alternative medicine techniques - like acupuncture - to Western
medicine. Perhaps we can understand the biological mechanisms of how
alternative treatments may be successful for patients."
A clue to the elusive cause of type 1 diabetes: Ottawa researchers investigate immune response to wheat
August 20, 2009 Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Fraser Scott and his team tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. The study is published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Diabetes.
Early in life, the immune system is supposed to learn to attack foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, while leaving the body's own tissues and harmless molecules in the environment alone (including food in the gut). When this process goes awry, autoimmune diseases and allergies can develop. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the pancreas, the organ that regulates blood sugar. Dr. Scott's research is the first to clearly show that immune cells called T cells from people with type 1 diabetes are also more likely to over-react to wheat. His research also shows that the over-reaction is linked to genes associated with type 1 diabetes. Read more: http://www.ohri.ca/newsroom/newsstory.asp?ID=189
Research shows why low vitamin D raises heart disease risks in diabetics
Aug. 21, 2009 -- Low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why. They have found that diabetics deficient in vitamin D can't process cholesterol normally, so it builds up in their blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. The new research has identified a mechanism linking low vitamin D levels to heart disease risk and may lead to ways to fix the problem, simply by increasing levels of vitamin Read more: http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/14489.html
Google Trends for Influenza - 2 Weeks Ahead of Official Reporting
An important trend Google tracks is influenza. Using their technology, they have found that Internet searches about influenza show increases in estimated flu activity about two weeks in advance of reports by CDC or other reporting organizations. OHNs might want to periodically check this webpage to determine if influenza activity they are observing is also reflected in data from their state, the Nation, and around the World. http://www.google.org/flutrends/intl/en_us/
Disaster Mental Health Recommendations from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response: November 2008
The Recommendations are:
Integrate mental and behavioral health into all public health and medical preparedness and response activities.
Enhance the research agenda for disaster mental and behavioral health.
Enhance assessment of mental and behavioral health needs during emergencies.
Enhance disaster mental and behavioral health training for professionals and paraprofessionals.
Promote the population's psychological resilience.
Ensure that the needs of at-risk individuals and issues of cultural responsiveness are being addressed in all efforts of the National Biodefense Science Board.
Develop a disaster mental and behavioral health communication strategy.
Develop an accessible Internet-based communication toolkit.
Read the entire report and action steps for implementing the recommendations at:
Dye used to make Blue M&Ms and Blue Gatorade Linked to Reducing Spinal Cord Injury
The
same blue food dye found in M&Ms and Gatorade could be used to
reduce damage caused by spine injuries, offering a better chance of
recovery, according to new research. Researchers at the University of
Rochester Medical Center found that when they injected the compound
Brilliant Blue G (BBG) into rats suffering spinal cord injuries, the
rodents were able to walk again, albeit with a limp. The only side
effect was that the treated mice temporarily turned blue. The results
of the study, published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences," build on research conducted by the same center five years
ago. Read the story at: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/30/12489
Study Explains Why Police Officers have a Higher Risk of Developing Heart Disease
In the most
recent results coming out of one of the few long-term studies being
conducted within this tightly knit society, University at Buffalo
researchers have determined that underlying the higher incidence of
subclinical atherosclerosis -- arterial thickening that precedes a
heart attack or stroke - may be the stress of police work.
In the study
from the University of Buffalo, accepted for publication in Psychiatry Research, that looked at the
male-female differences in stress and signs of heart disease,
researchers found that female police officers had higher levels of
cortisol when they awoke, and the levels remained high throughout the
day. Cortisol normally is highest in the morning and decreases to its
lowest point in the evening. The constantly high cortisol levels were
associated with less arterial elasticity, a risk factor for heart
disease.
"When
cortisol becomes dysregulated due to chronic stress, it opens a
person to disease," John Violanti,
Ph.D., UB associate professor of social and preventive medicine
said. "The body becomes
physiologically unbalanced, organs are attacked and the immune system
is compromised as well. It's unfortunate, but that's what stress does
to us."
In the current
study, the researchers used carotid artery thickness to assess heart
disease risk. Participants were 322 clinically healthy active-duty
police officers from the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police
Stress study and 318 healthy persons from the ongoing UB
Western New York Health Study matched to the officers by age.
All measurements
were taken in the morning after a 12-hour fast. In addition to
testing carotid thickness via ultrasound, investigators measured
blood pressure, body size, cholesterol (both total and HDL) and
glucose. They collected information on physical activity, symptoms of
depression, alcohol consumption and smoking history. These are the
factors that typically cause heart disease.
Results showed
that police work was associated with increased subclinical
cardiovascular disease -- there was more plaque build-up in the
carotid artery -- compared to the general population that could not
be explained by those conventional heart disease risk factors.
Researchers at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania
have discovered that a widely used anti-diabetic drug, metformin, can boost the
immune system and increase the potency of vaccines and cancer
treatments. They discovered that the widely prescribed diabetes treatment metformin
increases the efficiency of the immune system's T-cells, which in turn
makes cancer and virus-fighting vaccines more effective.
"We serendipitously discovered that the metabolizing, or burning, of
fatty acids by T-cells following the peak of infection is critical to
establishing immunological memory," Pearce added. "We used metformin,
which is known to operate on fatty-acid metabolism, to enhance this
process, and have shown experimentally in mice that metformin increases
T-cell memory as well as the ensuing protective immunity of an
experimental anti-cancer vaccine."
Few talk about cancer and diabetes in the same breath. However,
recent advances have uncovered common links between cancer and
diabetes, in particular how metabolic pathways, the basic chemical
reactions that happen in our cells, are controlled in these diseases.
The recent findings suggest a new link between the metabolic pathways
deregulated in cancer and diabetes and their role in immune cell
function. The results suggest that common diabetic therapies which
alter cellular metabolism may enhance T-cell memory, providing a boost
to the immune system. This could lead to novel strategies for vaccine
and anti-cancer therapies.
"Our findings were unanticipated, but are potentially extremely
important and could revolutionize current strategies for both
therapeutic and protective vaccines," Choi said.
In 2000, the total cost (direct and indirect) attributable to obesity was estimated to be $117 billion,1 and between 1987 and 2001, diseases associated with obesity accounted for 27 percent of the increases in medical costs.23
Medical expenses for obese employees are estimated to be between 29
percent and 117 percent greater than medical expenses for employees
with a healthy weight.
What is the cost of obesity to your organization?
"CDC's LEAN Works! Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition" is a FREE
web-based resource that offers interactive tools and evidence-based
resources to design effective worksite obesity prevention and control
programs, including an obesity cost calculator to estimate how much
obesity is costing your company and how much savings your company could
reap with different workplace interventions.
Recommended by Wellness Program Manager at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Michael Thorn
Study: Lap Band Surgery for Obese Teens Results in Reduced Metabolic Syndrome Risk
"An
estimated 17 percent of all American adolescents are obese, and
increasing numbers of them also have metabolic syndrome," says
Dr. Fennoy, a pediatric endocrinologist at NewYork-Presbyterian
Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, clinical professor of pediatrics
at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and
co-author of the study. "Until recently, there have been few
treatments capable of helping these young patients lose weight, much
less improving their lifelong health prospects. The Lap-Band may well
be a useful intervention for tackling teen obesity -- which is why it
is so important to investigate the procedure's safety and efficacy in
this growing population."
In the new
study, Dr. Fennoy and her colleagues followed 24 morbidly obese
adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 who underwent the Lap-Band
procedure. The study participants either had a BMI of greater than 40
or greater than 35 if already suffering from diabetes or
obesity-related illnesses.
Six months after
surgery, they noted a significant drop in participants' BMI, waist
circumference, and blood levels of C-reactive protein. These
indicators continued to improve among the 12 patients being followed
up at the one-year point.
Other measures
of metabolic syndrome such as blood lipid and sugar levels, the
authors reported, came down quickly in the first six months, with
"less dramatic" changes seen one year after surgery.
The Economic Impact of Pandemic Influenza in the United
States: Priorities for Intervention
OHNs may find this publication of use when writing justification for influenza immunization programs.
Martin I. Meltzer, Nancy J. Cox, and Keiji Fukuda
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Abstract: We estimated the possible effects of the next influenza
pandemic in the United States and analyzed the economic impact of vaccine-based
interventions. Using death rates, hospitalization data, and outpatient visits, we
estimated 89,000 to 207,000 deaths; 314,000 to 734,000 hospitalizations; 18 to 42 million
outpatient visits; and 20 to 47 million additional illnesses. Patients at high risk (15%
of the population) would account for approximately 84% of all deaths. The estimated
economic impact would be US$71.3 to $166.5 billion, excluding disruptions to commerce and
society. At $21 per vaccinee, we project a net savings to society if persons in all age
groups are vaccinated. At $62 per vaccinee and at gross attack rates of 25%, we project
net losses if persons not at high risk for complications are vaccinated. Vaccinating 60%
of the population would generate the highest economic returns but may not be possible
within the time required for vaccine effectiveness, especially if two doses of vaccine are
required.
Pandemic Influenza: Implications for Occupational Medicine
Abstract
This
article reviews the biological and occupational medicine literature
related to H5N1 pandemic influenza and its impact on infection
control, cost and business continuity in settings outside the health
care community. The literature on H5N1 biology is reviewed including
the treatment and infection control mechanisms as they pertain to
occupational medicine. Planning activity for the potential arrival of
pandemic avian influenza is growing rapidly. Much has been published
on the molecular biology of H5N1 but there remains a paucity of
literature on the occupational medicine impacts to organizations.
This review summarizes some of the basic science surrounding H5N1
influenza and raises some key concerns in pandemic planning for the
occupational medicine professional. Workplaces other than health care
settings will be impacted greatly by an H5N1 pandemic and the
occupational physician will play an essential role in corporate
preparation, response, and business continuity strategies.
