• Title/Summary/Keyword: DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY

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Survey of Asbestos-Related Disease on Chest Radiograph of Workers Exposed to Asbestos in Ship Repair (조선수리업종 석면노출 근로자들의 흉부방사선상 석면관련 폐질환 소견의 발생양상)

  • Lee Hyun Jae;Hong Young Seoub;Son Ji Eun;Lee Young Ill;Kim Sang Hoon;Im Hyoung June;Kim Jung Man;Kim Joon Youn
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.58-63
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    • 2006
  • There was cross-sectional study on investigating the factors related asbestos-related disease on chest radiograph of workers exposed to asbestos in ship repair. According to Occupational Safety & Health Administration asbestos standard, medical surveillance, chest radiologic study, pulmonary function test and medical questionnaire are performed in 118 subjects exposed to asbestos for 10 years or more in ship repair. The sixteen out of 118 subjects $(13.6\%)$ were observed asbestos-related disease finding on chest radiography. Significant factors related to those finding on chest radiography were abnormal pulmonary function test, cough, sputum, past history of respiratory disease, work duration. Workers with Significant factors related asbestos-related disease finding on chest radiography should be managed on a strict program. Further, factors unrelated with asbestos-related disease finding on this study should be evaluated prospectively for medical surveillance program of workers exposed to asbestos.

Reviews in Medical Geography: Spatial Epidemiology of Vector-Borne Diseases (벡터매개 질병(vector-borne diseases) 공간역학을 중심으로 한 보건지리학의 최근 연구)

  • Park, Sunyurp;Han, Daikwon
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.47 no.5
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    • pp.677-699
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    • 2012
  • Climate changes may cause substantial changes in spatial patterns and distribution of vector-borne diseases (VBD's), which will result in a significant threat to humans and emerge as an important public health problem that the international society needs to solve. As global warming becomes widespread and the Korean peninsula characterizes subtropical climate, the potentials of climate-driven disease outbreaks and spread rapidly increase with changes in land use, population distributions, and ecological environments. Vector-borne diseases are typically infected by insects such as mosquitoes and ticks, and infected hosts and vectors increased dramatically as the habitat ranges of the VBD agents have been expanded for the past 20 years. Medical geography integrates and processes a wide range of public health data and indicators at both local and regional levels, and ultimately helps researchers identify spatiotemporal mechanism of the diseases determining interactions and relationships between spatial and non-spatial data. Spatial epidemiology is a new and emerging area of medical geography integrating geospatial sciences, environmental sciences, and epidemiology to further uncover human health-environment relationships. An introduction of GIS-based disease monitoring system to the public health surveillance system is among the important future research agenda that medical geography can significantly contribute to. Particularly, real-time monitoring methods, early-warning systems, and spatial forecasting of VBD factors will be key research fields to understand the dynamics of VBD's.

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Survey and Phylogenetic Analysis of Rodents and Important Rodent-Borne Zoonotic Pathogens in Gedu, Bhutan

  • Phuentshok, Yoenten;Dorji, Kezang;Zangpo, Tandin;Davidson, Silas A.;Takhampunya, Ratree;Tenzinla, Tenzinla;Dorjee, Chencho;Morris, Roger S.;Jolly, Peter D.;Dorjee, Sithar;McKenzie, Joanna S.
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.56 no.5
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    • pp.521-525
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    • 2018
  • Rodents are well-known reservoirs and vectors of many emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, but little is known about their role in zoonotic disease transmission in Bhutan. In this study, a cross-sectional investigation of zoonotic disease pathogens in rodents was performed in Chukha district, Bhutan, where a high incidence of scrub typhus and cases of acute undifferentiated febrile illness had been reported in people during the preceding 4-6 months. Twelve rodents were trapped alive using wire-mesh traps. Following euthanasia, liver and kidney tissues were removed and tested using PCR for Orientia tsutsugamushi and other bacterial and rickettsial pathogens causing bartonellosis, borreliosis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, leptospirosis, and rickettsiosis. A phylogenetic analysis was performed on all rodent species captured and pathogens detected. Four out of the 12 rodents (33.3%) tested positive by PCR for zoonotic pathogens. Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella grahamii, and B. queenslandensis were identified for the first time in Bhutan. Leptospira interrogans was also detected for the first time from rodents in Bhutan. The findings demonstrate the presence of these zoonotic pathogens in rodents in Bhutan, which may pose a risk of disease transmission to humans.

Vibration and Ergonomic Exposures Associated With Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Shoulder and Neck

  • Charles, Luenda E.;Ma, Claudia C.;Burchfiel, Cecil M.;Dong, Renguang G.
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.125-132
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    • 2018
  • Background: According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) accounted for 32% of all nonfatal injury and illness cases in 2014 among full-time workers. Our objective was to review and summarize the evidence linking occupational exposures to vibration and awkward posture with MSDs of the shoulder and neck. Methods: A literature search was conducted using the terms musculoskeletal disorders, vibration, and awkward posture. All types of observational epidemiologic studies, with the exception of case reports, published during 1998-2015 were included. Databases searched were MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Scopus, Ergonomic Abstracts, NIOSHTIC-2, and Health and Safety Science Abstracts. Results: Occupational exposures to whole-body or hand-arm vibration were significantly associated with or resulted in MSDs of the shoulder and neck. Awkward postures while working were also associated with MSDs in these locations. These findings were consistent across study designs, populations, and countries. Conclusion: Occupational exposure to vibration and awkward posture are associated with shoulder and neck MSDs. Longitudinal studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for these associations, and intervention studies are warranted.

Genetic Epidemiological Analysis of Esophageal Cancer in High-incidence Areas of China

  • Wang, Kai-Juan;Yang, Jun-Xia;Shi, Jia-Chen;Deng, Song-Yuan;Cao, Xiao-Qin;Song, Chun-Hua;Wang, Peng
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.22
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    • pp.9859-9863
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    • 2014
  • Genetic epidemiological studies have shown that genetic susceptibility to esophageal cancer (EC) is an important cause of its high incidence within families in some areas of China. The purpose of this study was to obtain evidence of a genetic basis of EC in Xin-an and Xin-xiang counties in China. Familial aggregation and complex segregation analyses were performed of 79 EC families in these counties. The heritability of EC was examined using Falconer's method and complex segregation analysis was conducted with the SEGREG program in Statistical Analysis for Genetic Epidemiology (SAGE version 5.3.1). The results showed that the distribution of EC in families did not fit well into a binomial distribution. The heritability of EC among first-degree and second-degree relatives was $67.0{\pm}7.31%$ and $43.1%{\pm}9.80%$, respectively, and the summing up powered heritability was $53.2{\pm}6.74%$. The segregation ratio was 0.045. Complex segregation analysis showed that the genetic model of EC was additive. The current results provide evidence for an inherited propensity to EC in certain high-risk groups in China, and support efforts to identify the genes that confer susceptibility to this disease.