American journal of industrial medicine
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Cigarette smoking and occupational exposures each have been reported to increase the risk of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease previously considered of unknown origin. We investigated the risk of IPF mortality associated with combined smoking and occupational exposures. ⋯ A clear dose-response relationship was seen between smoking at baseline and IPF, supporting a causal relationship. Occupational exposure to inorganic dusts, excluding silica and asbestos, was associated with increased risk of IPF in baseline heavy current smokers.
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As COVID-19 vaccines become available, supply is expected to initially fall short of demand. In response, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has issued guidance on which groups should be prioritized to receive vaccines. For the first phase of vaccine allocation, the ACIP recommended healthcare personnel and long-term care facility residents as recipients. ⋯ By doing so, the acquisition and transmission of COVID-19 may be mitigated, which would benefit both these workers and the US public. Further, persistent vulnerabilities render commercial truck drivers susceptible to severe COVID-19 infection; therefore, vaccination during the next phase is imperative to curb the exacerbation of extant health inequities. Finally, because present-day COVID-19 vulnerabilities in these workers have been shaped by unjust policies over the past several decades, and because COVID-19 public health policies have excluded and potentially exacerbated the impacts of the pandemic for these workers, allocating vaccines to commercial truck drivers is a necessary step toward promoting justice.
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There are racial and ethnic disparities in the risk of contracting COVID-19. This study sought to assess how occupational segregation according to race and ethnicity may contribute to the risk of COVID-19. ⋯ Occupational segregation into high-risk industries and occupations likely contributes to differential risk with respect to COVID-19. Providing adequate protections to workers may help to reduce these disparities.
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As the US health care system began to respond to the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, demand for respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE) increased precipitously, as did the number of users. This commentary discusses ensuing deviations from accepted respiratory PPE program practices, which potentially increased risk to health care workers. ⋯ The temporary compromise of professionally accepted standards due to exigencies must not become the new normal. Rather, the current attention to PPE should be leveraged to enhance practice, motivate vital research, and strengthen professional, governmental, and institutional capabilities to control health care worker exposures to infectious hazards.