Hairdressers in Johannesburg: knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding occupational health

Introduction: Hairdressers are exposed to hazardous chemicals in haircare products, which can cause adverse respiratory, skin, and reproductive effects. The incidence of these effects can be reduced with good occupational health and safety (OHS) knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). Objective: The objective of the study was to assess Johannesburg hairdressers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards occupational health and safety. Methods: Three hundred and eighty-three hairdressers were recruited into this crosssectional study. They were categorised into employees/wage earners (earning a salary or wage, n = 151), or business owners (self-employed, n = 232). Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Frequency tables were generated and chi-square tests were used to test differences between KAP amongst business owners and wage earners. Results: Most of the study participant were female (n = 237, 61.9%). A higher proportion of business owners than wage earners knew that hairdressing was hazardous to their health, in general (n = 44, 29.1% and n = 120, 51.7%, respectively), and with regard to specific health risks such as asthma, cancer, and skin diseases. However, more of the wage earners than the business owners had good attitudes towards the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, (n = 143, 94.7% and n = 210, 90.5%, respectively). Overall, wage earners practised better OHS than business owners, e.g. 67.5% (n = 102) and 55.2% (n = 128) reported that they wore gloves, respectively. Conclusion: Wage earners had poorer OHS knowledge than those who owned or operated hairdressing salons. Both had good attitudes towards OHS, but self-employed hairdressers had poorer OHS practices. Training, including workshops and seminars, is needed to improve KAP regarding OHS amongst all hairdressers, regardless of their employment status.

Preferred techniques of hair harvest for medical testing among adult pulmonary TB patients

Background: Antiretroviral hair drug levels are currently being used to monitor adherence to HIV treatment. There is currently a dearth of literature on the preferred technique(s) of hair harvest for medical testing in the context of African multicultural settings. Objective: To explore the preferred techniques(s) of hair harvest for medical testing among TB patients. Methods: We used a descriptive phenomenological approach to conduct interviews for 15 TB patients from the 06th through the 24th of June 2022. Data was organized by N-VIVO version 10 and analysed step by step using a thematic analytical approach. Results: Participants aged <30 years were more knowledgeable, positively perceived, and experienced about the salon-based hair cutting technique compared to those aged≥30 years old. Participants aged ≥30 had experience, flexibility to use, and were knowledgeable in all three techniques, Overall, for all age categories (<30,30-40 and >40 years), majority of the respondents were knowledgeable, flexible and experienced in using all the three techniques. Conclusion: The majority of TB patients were knowledgeable, experienced and flexible about the hair cutting techniques however, efforts are needed to educate the youth that hair for medical testing can be cut by any of the three techniques without changing their cosmetic look.

Blood and virus detection on barber clippers

Background. Bleeding from the popular clean-shave 'chiskop' haircut was recently reported as prevalent in South Africa (SA), a country with 6.9 million HIV-infected people.Objectives. To investigate the prevalence of barber hair clipper contamination with blood and HIV and hepatitis B viruses.Methods. Fifty barbers from three townships in Cape Town, SA, were invited to participate. One clipper from each barber was collected immediately after it had been used for a clean-shave haircut. Each clipper was rinsed with phosphate-buffered saline and then submerged in viral medium. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify the blood-specific RNA marker haemoglobin beta (HBB), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HIV.Results. The clean-shave haircut was the most common haircut requested by clients (78%). Of the clippers collected, 42% were positive for HBB, confirming detection of blood, none were positive for HIV, and 4 (8%) were positive for HBV. Two clippers (clippers 16 and 20) were positive on qualitative HBV PCR. HBV DNA from clipper 16 clustered with genotype A sequences from SA, India, Brazil and Martinique, while clipper 20 clustered with SA genotype D sequences. The clipper 20 sequence was identical to a subtype D sequence (GenBank accession AY233291) from Gauteng, SA.Conclusions. This study confirms that there is significant contamination of barber hair clippers with blood and blood-borne viruses. Hepatitis B was detected with enough DNA copies to pose a risk of transmitting infection. Although HIV was not detected in this small study, the risk of transmission should be quantified. Further studies to investigate barber clipper sterilisation practices and whether the clean-shave hairstyle is an independent risk factor for HIV, HBV and hepatitis C virus infections are warranted. Public education on individual clipper ownership (as is the case with a toothbrush) should be advocated for clean-shave and blade-fade haircuts