A Risk Analysis for Airborne Pathogens with Low Infectious Doses: Application to Respirator Selection Against Coccidioides immitis Spores

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hubbard A ; Nicas M
• Description:
  Probability models incorporating a deterministic versus stochastic infectious dose are described for estimating infection risk due to airborne pathogens that infect at low doses. Such pathogens can be occupational hazards or candidate agents for bioterrorism. Inputs include parameters for the infectious dose model, distribution parameters for ambient pathogen concentrations, the breathing rate, the duration of an exposure period, the anticipated number of exposure periods, and, if a respirator device is used, distribution parameters for respirator penetration values. Application of the models is illustrated with a hypothetical scenario involving exposure to Coccidioides immitis, a fungus present in soil in areas of the southwestern United States Inhaling C. immitis spores causes a respiratory tract infection and is a recognized occupational hazard in jobs involving soil dust exposure in endemic areas An uncertainty analysis is applied to risk estimation in the context of selecting respiratory protection with a desired degree of efficacy. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Bacteria Dust Microbiology Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-purification Air-purifiers Air-purifying-respirators Bacterial-dusts Microorganisms Models Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Respiration Respirators Respiratory-protection Respiratory-protective-equipment Statistical-analysis

  More +
• ISSN:
  0272-4332
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  22
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024655
• Citation:
  Risk Anal 2002 Dec; 22(6):1153-1163
• Contact Point Address:
  Mark Nicas, Ph.D., CIH, School of Public Health, Room 140 Warren Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
• Email:
  mnicas@uclink4.berkeley.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley, California
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990701
• Source Full Name:
  Risk Analysis
• End Date:
  20021230
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aa9f0d5e2ce790e7f21ffedbded7d7dd5fd89fe42faaffe8d0c34eb68a9736ede5972a4229ebd337b0126fa369365a75582d787260c246d4c9b833cf7efbb5dc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196346/cdc_196346_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 127.79 KB ]