Excess risk of head and chest colds among teachers and other school workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alterman, Toni ; Calvert, Geoffrey M. ; Groenewold, Matthew ; Park RM ; Tak S
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Work-related injuries and illnesses in the educational services sector have not been well studied. This analysis examined whether teachers and other school workers are at higher risk of head/chest cold compared to all other workers in the United States. METHODS: Seven years (1998-2004) of National Health Interview Survey data on currently employed workers were combined to provide a basis for estimating the incidence proportion of head/chest cold. RESULTS: The adjusted odds ratio for head/chest cold was significantly elevated for teachers and other workers employed at schools compared to all other workers. When examined by month, an excess of increased head/chest cold risk during the school year suggested that a portion of head/chest cold among teachers and other school workers is attributable to their workplace, perhaps due to close contact with students at school. CONCLUSION: Head/chest cold, a surrogate for acute respiratory infection, was more common among school workers during the school year and less common during July than for all other workers in the United States. Targeted training for school workers and students may be beneficial to reduce work-related exposure to viruses and bacteria that infect the respiratory system. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Immune System Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Hypersensitivity Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Staff Development Viral Diseases Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Communicable Diseases Employee Health Promotion Exposure-levels Immune-reaction Infection-control Infectious-diseases Lung-irritants Mathematical-models Occupational-exposure Public Health Pulmonary-congestion Pulmonary-system Quantitative-analysis Respiratory-hypersensitivity Respiratory-infections Respiratory-irritants Surveillance-programs Training Viral-diseases Viral-infections Work-environment Work-organization Work-practices Worker-health Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0022-4391
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies ; EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  81
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039333
• Citation:
  J Sch Health 2011 Sep; 81(9):560-565
• Contact Point Address:
  SangWoo Tak, Assistant Director, Occupational Health Surveillance Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02108
• Email:
  Sangwoo.Tak@state.ma.us
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of School Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:90d21cf717bbbacbda61a8f33866751362a9f2ca9ed479772e2da5ac1a9116146760587fc4e3243f34cb644227474e69cc523d22bf97cc79732eaabaf75f5052
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192675/cdc_192675_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 557.36 KB ]