Legionnaires’ Disease in Transportation, Construction and Other Occupations in 39 US Jurisdictions, 2014–2016

Details

• Personal Author:
  Barskey AE ; Edens C ; Harduar-Morano, Laurel ; Herzig CTA ; Luckhaupt SE ; Morawski BM
• Description:
  Background: Certain workers are at increased risk for acquiring Legionnaires' disease compared with other workers. This study aims to identify occupations at increased risk for acquiring Legionnaires' disease. Methods: Using data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Supplemental Legionnaires' Disease Surveillance System, this study identified Legionnaires' disease confirmed patients ≥16 years of age in 39 states with reported symptom onset during 2014-2016. Age-adjusted and sex-adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRR) stratified by occupation group were calculated by comparing Legionnaires' disease patients in an occupation group (eg, transportation) to those in all other occupation groups (eg, non-transportation). Results: A total of 2553 patients had a known occupation group. The two occupations with the highest burden were transportation (N=287; IRR=2.11) and construction (N=269; IRR=1.82). Truck drivers comprised the majority (69.7%) of the transportation occupation group and construction labourers comprised almost half (49%) of the construction occupation group. The healthcare support occupation had the highest IRR (N=75; IRR=2.16). Conclusion: Transportation and construction workers, who are generally not covered by guidance related to building water systems, have increased risk of Legionnaires' disease compared with other workers. One hypothesised risk factor for truck drivers is the use of non-genuine windshield cleaner in their vehicles. A simple intervention is to use genuine windshield cleaner with bactericidal properties (ie, includes isopropanol/methanol) which can reduce the risk of Legionella growth and transmission. To improve surveillance of Legionnaires' disease and identification of similar exposures, the authors encourage the collection of occupation and industry information for all patients with Legionnaires' disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Construction Industry Epidemiology Occupational Health Safety Transportation
• Keywords:
  Construction Infectious Diseases Legionellosis Legionnaires Disease Occupations Truck Drivers
• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Idaho ; Michigan ; North Carolina ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  163-166
• Volume:
  81
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069257
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2024 Mar; 81(3):163-166
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr Laurel Harduar Morano, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
• Email:
  harduarm@msu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1d5ceb7d511b91ce2fcc61aa0b2994845d77a3716504de3b7b68e79d3dccac8d4d6a25c9f0deb6b119702d5a0d07b0ceb9b6f5ea63dde27d55c30473a16ce2df
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207764/cdc_207764_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 240.24 KB ]