Occupational exposure to zoonotic agents among agricultural workers in Lombardy Region, northern Italy
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2013, Vol 20, Issue 4
Abstract
Objectives: This study was conducted in Northern Italy with the aim of defining the risk of agricultural workers’ contact with biological agents through the determination of serum antibodies against selected zoonotic agents. Immunity against tetanus was also investigated. Methods: Two groups of agricultural workers consisting of 153 animal breeders (exposed) and 46 non- breeders (controls) were included in the study. In a first group of 103 workers (89 exposed and 14 controls) the serum concentrations of antibodies against [i]Hepatitis E Virus[/i] (HEV) were measured, whereas in the second group of 96 workers (64 exposed and 32 controls) the serum concentrations of antibodies against[i] Leptospira spp., Coxiella burnetii, Borrelia burgdorferi, Brucella spp[/i]. and [i]Salmonella spp. [/i]were addressed. Imunization against tretanus was also studied in this group. Results: Animal breeders showed higher rates of IgG antibodies against [i]Coxiella burnetii[/i] (50% vs. 31.2%), and[i] Leptospira spp[/i]. (59.4% vs. 43.7%). Results of logistic regression analysis revealed that breeder workers showed a tendency to have higher prevalence of positivity for antibodies to Leptospira spp.and Coxiella burnetii than non-breeders (ORs ~ 3). Only one exposed subject showed antibodies against hepatitis E (none in controls), but when tested with another commercially available kit the percentage of anti HEV IgG positive subjects increased to 22.3% in the exposed, while none of the controls showed positive. None of the subjects showed antibodies against[i] Salmonella spp[/i]. and [i]Brucella spp[/i]. Italians and other European workers have better protection against tetanus (91%) compared to non-EU workers (81%). Conclusions: The higher frequency of the presence of serum antibodies to zoonotic agents (e.g. [i]Leptospira spp[/i]. and [i]Coxiella burnetii[/i]) in animal breeders suggests that they are more exposed to biological agents than workers not involved in animal breeding activities. The risk of contact with HEV deserves further studies because the adoption of different assays can result in significantly different results. The promotion of immunization of agricultural workers might be a priority, in particular for migrants.
Authors and Affiliations
Ramin Tabibi, Rosana Baccalini, Alessandra Barassi, Luigi Bonizzi, Gabri Brambilla, Dario Consonni, Gianlodovico Melzi d’Eril, Luisa Romanò, Maryam Sokooti, Chiara Somaruga, Francesca Vellere, Alessandro Zanetti, Claudio Colosio
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP80685
- DOI -
- Views 135
- Downloads 0
Influence of caffeine administered at 45 °C on bone tissue development
[b]introduction and objective[/b]. Caffeine is one of the world’s most commonly ingested alkaloids which easily permeates the placenta. The teratogenic and embryotoxic influence of large doses of caffeine has been establ...
Epigenetic regulation in drug addiction
The interaction between environmental signals and genes has now taken on a clear molecular form as demonstrated by stable changes in chromatin structure. These changes occur through activation or repression of specific g...
Orofacial symptoms related to boreliosis--case report.
Lyme disease (borreliosis) is an infectious disease caused by the Borrelia spirochaetes, usually transmitted to humans by the Ixodes ticks. It is manifested by a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms varying according to th...
Inequalities in mortality of infants under one year of age according to foetal causes and maternal age in rural and urban areas in Poland, 2004–2013
[b]Introduction.[/b] European countries are characterized by low mortality during the infancy period compared to other areas of the world. However, there are significant disparities in the state of infant health which ar...
Animal herpesviruses and their zoonotic potential for cross-species infection
Herpesviruses of humans and animals cause severe diseases that influence not only the health and epidemiological status but are also economically important in the context of food production. The members of[i] Herpesvirid...