Legionnaires’ Disease in Occupational Settings: A Cross-Sectional Study from Northeastern Italy (2019)

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease

article

Matteo Riccò¹  Pietro Ferraro²  Silvia Ranzieri³  Giorgia Boldini³  Ilaria Zanella³  Federico Marchesi³ 

[1] Servizio di Prevenzione e Sicurezza Negli Ambienti di Lavoro;Occupational Medicine Unit, Direzione Sanità, Italian Railways’ Infrastructure Division;Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma;Servizio di Igiene Pubblica

关键词: Legionella pneumophila;    Legionnaires’ disease;    occupational exposure;    diagnosis;    epidemiology;    risk assessment;   

DOI  :  10.3390/tropicalmed8070364

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

1000 hospital admissions per year, with a lethality rate of 5 to 10%. Occupational exposures could reasonably explain a substantial share of total cases, but the role of Occupational Physicians (OPs) in management and prevention of LD has been scarcely investigated. The present survey therefore evaluates the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding LD from a convenience sample of Italian OPs, focusing on their participation in preventive interventions. A total of 165 OPs were recruited through a training event (Parma, Northeastern Italy, 2019), and completed a specifically designed structured questionnaire. The association between reported participation in preventive interventions and individual factors was analyzed using a binary logistic regression model, calculating corresponding multivariable Odds Ratio (aOR). Overall, participants exhibited satisfactory knowledge of the clinical and diagnostic aspects of LD, while substantial uncertainties were associated epidemiological factors (i.e., notification rate and lethality). Although the majority of participating OPs reportedly assisted at least one hospital (26.7%) and/or a nursing home (42.4%) and/or a wastewater treatment plant, only 41.8% reportedly contributed to the risk assessment for LD and 18.8% promoted specifically designed preventive measures. Working as OPs in nursing homes (aOR 8.732; 95% Confidence Intervals [95%CI] 2.991 to 25.487) and wastewater treatment plants (aOR 8.710; 95%CI 2.844 to 26.668) was associated with participation in the risk assessment for LD, while the promotion of preventive practice was associated with working as an OP in hospitals (aOR 6.792; 95%CI 2.026 to 22.764) and wastewater treatment plants (aOR 4.464, 95%CI 1.363 to 14.619). In other words, the effective participation of the OP in the implementation of preventive measures appears uncommon and is limited to certain occupational settings. Collectively, these results highlight the importance of tailoring specifically designed information campaigns aimed to raise the involvement of OPs in the prevention of LD in occupational settings other than healthcare.

【 授权许可】

CC BY