Occupational illnesses chronic diseases

A disease or illness is nontraumatic physiological harm or loss of capacity produced by systemic, continued, or repeated stress or strain exposure to toxins, poisons, fumes, and so on or other continued and repeated exposures to conditions of the environment over a long period of time. For practical purposes, an occupational illness or disease is any reported condition that does not meet the definition of injury (from a mishap). Illness includes both acute and chronic illnesses, such as, but not limited to, a skin disease, respiratory disorder, or poisoning. 

This patient has the subjective symptoms of weight loss, decreased appetite, shortness of breath, and cough. Abnormal laboratory values include elevated temperature, decreased hemoglobin and hematocrit, and decreased CD4 count. Chest x-ray shows diffuse interstitial infiltrates bilaterally. Physical exam reveals thrush. The assessment is possible AIDS with CD4 count of 150 cells/mm3, thrush, a respiratory illness (possibly Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia), and anemia of chronic disease. He also has a history of hepatitis B, hypertension, and GERD (on famotidine), poor adherence to his anti hypertensive medications, and likely has an irregular daily regimen due to his occupation as a truck driver. 

Occupational illness Any abnormal condition or disorder, other than one resulting from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment. It includes acute and chronic illnesses or diseases that may be caused by inhalation, absorption, ingestion, or direct contact. 

The human and economic costs of these conditions are indisputably enormous. Leigh et al. (1997) estimated that more than 60,000 workers die each year from occupational illnesses, and more than 850,000 develop new illnesses annually. Similarly, Steenland et al. (2003) estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 workers die each year from cancer due to occupational exposures, and between 5,000 and 24,000 die from work-related Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. 

Health hazards also present a problan in that some can cause acute effects, while others can lead to chronic disease at some time much later. This chapter cannot cover all the potential causes and risks of occupational illness, but it does review some of the most common health-related risks in the workplace. 

In occupational illnesses where the signs or symptoms may recur or continue in the absence of an exposure in the workplace, the case must be recorded only once. Examples include occupational cancers, asbestosis, tubercrfiosis, byssinosis, and silicosis. These conditions are chronic — once the disease is contracted, it may never be cured or completely resolved. 

NIOSH scientists work in multidisciplinary teams and carry out a focused program of intramural and extramural research to prevent or reduce work-related injury and illness. In 1996, NIOSH and over 500 partners established the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), a framework to guide the efforts of the occupational safety and health community in 21 priority research areas. NORA encompasses research areas such as traumatic injury, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hearing loss, and control technologies. These priority areas were identified through extensive input from NIOSH s federal and nonfederal partners. Since 1996, NIOSH has aligned its intramural and extramural research to increase its investment in NORA priority areas. 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable cases, which include work-related injuries and illnesses that result in one or more of the following death, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer, medical treatment (beyond first aid), significant work-related injuries or illnesses that are diagnosed by a physician or other licensed heath care professional (these include any work-related case involving cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fracture or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum) additional criteria include any needle-stick injury or cut from a sharp object that is contaminated with another person s blood or other potentially infectious material, any case requiring an employee to be medically removed under the requirements of an OSHA health standard, and tuberculosis infection as evidenced by a positive skin test or diagnosis by a physician or other licensed health care professional after exposure to a known case of active tuberculosis. 

OSHA considers skin diseases as illnesses caused by exposure to chemicals, plants, or other hazardous substances. OSHA dehnes respiratory conditions or illnesses as breathing-related problems associated with pneumonitis, pharyngitis, rhinitis, farmer s lung, beryllium disease, tuberculosis, occupational asthma, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypersensitivity. Examples can include heatstroke, hypothermia, decompression sickness, effects of ionizing radiation, exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays, anthrax, and bloodbome pathogen diseases. 

---