Contact urticaria and protein contact dermatitis in the Finnish Register of Occupational Diseases in a period of 12 years.

BACKGROUND: Although occupational contact urticaria (CU) and protein contact dermatitis (PCD) are considered frequent among workers with exposure to proteinaceous materials, data on occupations at risk and the main causes of these occupational skin diseases are relatively limited. OBJECTIVES: To report the causative agents and risk occupations for CU and PCD in the Finnish Register of Occupational Diseases (FROD). METHODS: We retrieved from the FROD all recognized cases of CU/PCD in the years 2005-2016. RESULTS: With 570 cases, CU and PCD constituted 11% of all recognized cases of occupational skin diseases in the study period. Occupations with the highest incidence of CU/PCD included bakers, chefs and cooks, farmers and farm workers, veterinarians, gardeners, and hairdressers. The most common causative agents were cow dander and flour and grain, followed by natural rubber latex (NRL) and other food. In food-related occupations, wheat and other flours were by far the most common cause of CU/PCD, with 76 cases, whereas fish and other animal-derived food caused 33 and other plant-derived food caused 23 cases. CONCLUSIONS: Apart from the Finnish peculiarity of cow dander allergy, a striking finding was a large share of CU/PCD caused by flours in food handlers as compared to other food.

Artesanos de servicio: Apreciaciones sobre los Barberos, Sangradores, Sacamuelas / Craftsmen of service: appreciations on the barbers, tappers, dentists

Los barberos a través del tiempo, han dejado una estela para muchos, poco apreciada. El presente relato intenta dar un poco más de lustre a su nombre, observándolo sucintamente desde varias facetas: tocador de guitarra y cantador, navegante, artesano; intentando romper la creencia de que fueron personas incultas y sin conocimientos. También se realizará un acercamiento hacia los barberos que laboraron en nuestra Cuenca de los Andes desde el siglo XVI hasta su extinción en el siglo XX.

Barbers over time, have left a trail which is little appreciated. The present account tries to enhance its name, observing it briefly from several aspects: guitar player and singer, navigator and craftsman; trying to break the belief that they were uncultured and uneducated people. There will also be an approach to the barbers who worked in our city "Cuenca de los Andes" from the sixteenth century until its extinction in the twentieth century.

A Cluster-Randomized Trial of Blood-Pressure Reduction in Black Barbershops.

BACKGROUND: Uncontrolled hypertension is a major problem among non-Hispanic black men, who are underrepresented in pharmacist intervention trials in traditional health care settings. METHODS: We enrolled a cohort of 319 black male patrons with systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or more from 52 black-owned barbershops (nontraditional health care setting) in a cluster-randomized trial in which barbershops were assigned to a pharmacist-led intervention (in which barbers encouraged meetings in barbershops with specialty-trained pharmacists who prescribed drug therapy under a collaborative practice agreement with the participants' doctors) or to an active control approach (in which barbers encouraged lifestyle modification and doctor appointments). The primary outcome was reduction in systolic blood pressure at 6 months. RESULTS: At baseline, the mean systolic blood pressure was 152.8 mm Hg in the intervention group and 154.6 mm Hg in the control group. At 6 months, the mean systolic blood pressure fell by 27.0 mm Hg (to 125.8 mm Hg) in the intervention group and by 9.3 mm Hg (to 145.4 mm Hg) in the control group; the mean reduction was 21.6 mm Hg greater with the intervention (95% confidence interval, 14.7 to 28.4; P<0.001). A blood-pressure level of less than 130/80 mm Hg was achieved among 63.6% of the participants in the intervention group versus 11.7% of the participants in the control group (P<0.001). In the intervention group, the rate of cohort retention was 95%, and there were few adverse events (three cases of acute kidney injury). CONCLUSIONS: Among black male barbershop patrons with uncontrolled hypertension, health promotion by barbers resulted in larger blood-pressure reduction when coupled with medication management in barbershops by specialty-trained pharmacists. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02321618 .).

Diet, occupational exposure and early asthma incidence among bakers, pastry makers and hairdressers.

BACKGROUND: The natural history of occupational asthma (OA) is influenced by many determinants. This study aims to assess the combined roles of personal characteristics, including occupational exposure and nutritional habits, on the incidence of OA during the first years at work. METHODS: A nested case-control study was conducted within a retrospective cohort of young workers in the bakery, pastry-making and hairdressing sectors. Cases were subjects diagnosed as 'confirmed' or 'probable' OA consecutively to a medical visit (N = 31). Controls were subjects without OA (N = 196). Atopy was defined after blood specific IgE analysis, based on the PhadiatopTM test. Occupational exposure was characterized by standardized questionnaires and diet patterns by a food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: Among bakers and pastry-makers, only atopy is an independent risk factor of OA (OR = 10.07 95%CI [2.76 - 36.65]). Among hairdressers, several variables are associated with OA. Body mass index (unit OR = 1.24 [1.03 - 1.48]) and the score of exposure intensity (unit OR = 1.79 [1.05 - 3.05]) are independent predictors of OA, but the role of atopy is weak (OR = 4.94 [0.66 - 36.75]). Intake of vitamin A is higher among hairdressers cases (crude p = 0.002, adjusted p = 0.01 after control for body mass index and atopy); the same observation is made for vitamin D (crude p = 0.004, adjusted p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the influence of several factors on the incidence of OA, including dietary vitamins, might vary across exposure settings.

AIDS awareness in an Indian metropolitan slum dweller: a KAP (knowledge, attitude, practice) study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the awareness and attitude towards AIDS and PLHA in slum dwellers of Chennai, an Indian metropolis by KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, Practice) study. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted in a representative sample of 650 subjects (400 females and 250 females), aged 15-45 years, by means of a questionnaire in the local dialect Tamil. RESULTS: The overall literacy rate was 64%, with males being 70% and females being 60% literate. 20% of males and 11% of females do not know about a disease called AIDS. Only 67% of males and 55% of females are aware of the sexual mode of transmission. 34% of males and 50% females opine that AIDS is also a hereditary disease. Also 45% of males and 62% of females feel that AIDS also spreads by air, fomites, or mosquito-bite. Only 30% of males and 22% females know about the possible symptoms of AIDS. 30% of males and 45% of females never ask for a new syringe if not provided, as they are totally unaware of its significance. 43% of males and 78% of females do not know about the risk of a barber's blade. 56% of males and 71% of females feel that AIDS can be treated at least by a traditional medicine. Lastly, 48% of males and 60% females prefer outcasting an AIDS patient from the slum. CONCLUSIONS: AIDS awareness in the slum dwellers of Chennai is very poor. Corresponding awareness in suburbs and rural areas will be much worse. Conventional IEC methods targeting general population via mass media are not reaching the slum dwellers, even in a metropolitan city. A specially designed targeted intervention is needed.

Sobre la necesidad del rasurado de la región púbica en los pacientes que van a ser sometidos a cirugía urológica endoscópica / On the need of pubic region shaving in patients undergoing endoscopic urologic surgery

OBJETIVO: El objetivo del estudio es determinar, mediante un ensayo clínico aleatorio controlado, si se produce algún aumento en el número de bacteriurias postoperatorias de un grupo de pacientes sometidos a cirugía urológica endoscópica, a los que no se rasura la región púbica (práctica inhabitual en la preparación quirúrgica actual). MATERIAL Y MÉTODO: El estudio se realizó distribuyendo a los pacientes que iban a ser intervenidos mediante cirugía urológica endoscópica de forma aleatoria en dos grupos. A un grupo se le rasuró la región púbica, según las técnicas habituales, mientras que al otro grupo no se le rasuró dicha región; el resto de la preparación fue igual para ambos grupos. Se recogieron muestras de orina para su cultivo antes de la administración del antibiótico profiláctico y se volvieron a tomar a la semana de retirar la sonda vesical, ya sin tratamiento antibiótico. Se prestó especial atención a las incidencias del postoperatorio, sobre todo, a las de naturaleza infecciosa. RESULTADOS: Se incluyeron un total de 449 pacientes, de los cuales 149 fueron retirados del estudio por diferentes causas. De estos, 149 fueron rasurados y 151 no lo fueron. En el grupo de pacientes no rasurados se observó una tasa de bacteriuria postoperatoria del 19,5%, mientras que en el otro grupo fue del 16,6%, no observándose diferencias estadísticamente significativas. CONCLUSIÓN: La conclusión a la que se llegó es que no se produce un aumento de bacteriurias postoperatorias en los pacientes sometidos a cirugía urológica endoscópica, a los que no se les rasura la región púbica, en comparación con el grupo de pacientes que son rasurados con cuchillas desechables

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to assess the effects of preoperative shaving of the pubic region on postoperative bacteriuria after endoscopic urological surgery. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The study was carried out distributing the patients undergoing endoscopic urological surgery in a controlled randomized way in two groups. In a group the pubic region was shaved, according to the habitual techniques, while the other group was not shaved; the rest of the preparation was the same for both groups. Urine samples were collected for their culture before the administration of the prophylactic antibiotic and a week after the removal of the Foley catheter, yet without antibiotic treatment. Special attention was paid to the postoperative incidences, mainly, those of infectious nature. RESULTS: They were included a total of 449 patients, of which 149 were removed from the study by different causes. Of these, 149 were shaved and 151 were not it. In the group of unshaved patients a 19,5% of postoperative bacteriurias was observed, while in the other group it was of 16,6%. Differences in both groups were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that there is no an increase of postoperative bacteriurias in the unshaved patients undergoing endoscopic urological surgery, compared with the group of patients shaved with disposable bladders

Diagnostic approach and management of occupational asthma by persulfate salts in a hairdresser.

An 18-year-old female hairdresser, nonsmoker and nonatopic, developed rhinoconjunctivitis followed by asthma after working for 18 months. The methods that were necessary to obtain a definitive diagnosis of occupational asthma are explained, as well as the medical management performed to improve her asthma over the next 12 months. Tryptase and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) were determined before and after specific bronchial challenge. The application of these parameters as complementary diagnostic methods in some cases of occupational asthma is described. Clinical and functional control performed some months later demonstrated an increase in nonspecific bronchial responsiveness after avoidance, likely related to an upper respiratory infection.