Giuseppe
Emeritus
[Source: PLoS ONE, full text: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]
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Distribution of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) by Occupation in Washington State, September 2009?August 2010
Naomi J. Anderson<SUP>1</SUP><SUP>*</SUP>, David K. Bonauto<SUP>1</SUP>, Z. Joyce Fan<SUP>1</SUP>, June T. Spector<SUP>2</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
1 Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Olympia, Washington, United States of America, 2 University of Washington, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
Abstract
Objectives
We aim to estimate the prevalence of influenza-like illness (ILI) by occupation and to identify occupations associated with increased ILI prevalence.
Methods
Between September 2009 and August 2010, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) included questions on ILI symptoms on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Washington State collects the occupation of all employed BRFSS respondents. ILI prevalence and prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated by occupational group.
Results
There were 8,758 adult, currently employed, non-military respondents to the Washington BRFSS during the study period. The ILI prevalence for all employed respondents was 6.8% (95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) = 6.1, 7.6). PRs indicated a lower prevalence of ILI in Technicians (PR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2, 0.9) and Truck Drivers (PR = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.1, 0.7) and higher prevalence in Janitors and Cleaners (PR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.3, 4.7) and Secretaries (PR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.1, 5.4).
Conclusions
Some occupations appear to have higher prevalence of ILI than others. These occupational differences may be explained, in part, by differing levels of social contact with the public or contact with contaminated surfaces at work, or by other occupational factors such as stress or access to health care resources.
Citation: Anderson NJ, Bonauto DK, Fan ZJ, Spector JT (2012) Distribution of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) by Occupation in Washington State, September 2009?August 2010. PLoS ONE 7(11): e48806. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048806
Editor: Suryaprakash Sambhara, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States of America
Received: August 1, 2012; Accepted: October 5, 2012; Published: November 12, 2012
Copyright: ? 2012 Anderson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This publication was supported in part by grant number 5U60 OH008487 from CDC-NIOSH, as well as by CDC-NIOSH contract 214-2010-M-34436; and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/, http://www.lni.wa.gov/). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC-NIOSH or the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No additional external funding received for this study.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: anna235@lni.wa.gov
-Naomi J. Anderson<SUP>1</SUP><SUP>*</SUP>, David K. Bonauto<SUP>1</SUP>, Z. Joyce Fan<SUP>1</SUP>, June T. Spector<SUP>2</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
1 Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Olympia, Washington, United States of America, 2 University of Washington, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
Abstract
Objectives
We aim to estimate the prevalence of influenza-like illness (ILI) by occupation and to identify occupations associated with increased ILI prevalence.
Methods
Between September 2009 and August 2010, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) included questions on ILI symptoms on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Washington State collects the occupation of all employed BRFSS respondents. ILI prevalence and prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated by occupational group.
Results
There were 8,758 adult, currently employed, non-military respondents to the Washington BRFSS during the study period. The ILI prevalence for all employed respondents was 6.8% (95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) = 6.1, 7.6). PRs indicated a lower prevalence of ILI in Technicians (PR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2, 0.9) and Truck Drivers (PR = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.1, 0.7) and higher prevalence in Janitors and Cleaners (PR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.3, 4.7) and Secretaries (PR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.1, 5.4).
Conclusions
Some occupations appear to have higher prevalence of ILI than others. These occupational differences may be explained, in part, by differing levels of social contact with the public or contact with contaminated surfaces at work, or by other occupational factors such as stress or access to health care resources.
Citation: Anderson NJ, Bonauto DK, Fan ZJ, Spector JT (2012) Distribution of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) by Occupation in Washington State, September 2009?August 2010. PLoS ONE 7(11): e48806. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048806
Editor: Suryaprakash Sambhara, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States of America
Received: August 1, 2012; Accepted: October 5, 2012; Published: November 12, 2012
Copyright: ? 2012 Anderson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This publication was supported in part by grant number 5U60 OH008487 from CDC-NIOSH, as well as by CDC-NIOSH contract 214-2010-M-34436; and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/, http://www.lni.wa.gov/). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC-NIOSH or the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No additional external funding received for this study.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: anna235@lni.wa.gov
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