Annual Burden of Occupationally-Acquired Influenza Infections in Hospitals and Emergency Departments in the United States

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jones RM ; Xia Y
• Description:
  Infections among health-care personnel (HCP) occur as a result of providing care to patients with infectious diseases, but surveillance is limited to a few diseases. The objective of this study is to determine the annual number of influenza infections acquired by HCP as a result of occupational exposures to influenza patients in hospitals and emergency departments (EDs) in the United States. A risk analysis approach was taken. A compartmental model was used to estimate the influenza dose received in a single exposure, and a dose-response function applied to calculate the probability of infection. A three-step algorithm tabulated the total number of influenza infections based on: the total number of occupational exposures (tabulated in previous work), the total number of HCP with occupational exposures, and the probability of infection in an occupational exposure. Estimated influenza infections were highly dependent upon the dose-response function. Given current compliance with infection control precautions, we estimated 151,300 and 34,150 influenza infections annually with two dose-response functions (annual incidence proportions of 9.3% and 2.1%, respectively). Greater reductions in infectious were achieved by full compliance with vaccination and IC precautions than with patient isolation. The burden of occupationally-acquired influenza among HCP in hospitals and EDs in the United States is not trivial, and can be reduced through improved compliance with vaccination and preventive measures, including engineering and administrative controls. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Economics Emergency Responders Engineering Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Influenza, Human Microbiology Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Risk Assessment Safety

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• Keywords:
  Administrative Controls Algorithms Author Keywords: Health-care Workers Compliance Dose Response Economic Impact Emergency Care Engineering Controls Health Care Facilities Health Care Personnel Infection Control Infection Prevention Infectious Diseases Influenza Isolation Mathematical Models Microbial Risk Assessment Microorganisms Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Preventive Medicine Risk Analysis Risk Assessment Surveillance Vaccines

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• ISSN:
  0272-4332
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  442-453
• Volume:
  38
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051401
• Citation:
  Risk Anal 2018 Mar; 38(3):442-453
• Contact Point Address:
  Rachael M. Jones, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2121WTaylor St. (M/C 922), Chicago, IL 60612, USA
• Email:
  rjones25@uic.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Risk Analysis
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6b9353dc8e4a8d18ce6a3a195062f018a473dbd9ed73f1ae768d59c9e0909ede33fbb3df4e30675a5dc7d00275fb70266b4837be3b63b7f25dfcf54fdf2df9e4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211372/cdc_211372_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 196.80 KB ]