Laboratory biosafety for handling emerging viruses

Emerging viruses are viruses whose occurrence has risen within the past twenty years, or whose presence is likely to increase in the near future. Diseases caused by emerging viruses are a major threat to global public health. In spite of greater awareness of safety and containment procedures, the handling of pathogenic viruses remains a likely source of infection, and mortality, among laboratory workers. There is a steady increase in both the number of laboratories and scientist handling emerging viruses for diagnostics and research. The potential for harm associated to work with these infectious agents can be minimized through the application of sound biosafety concepts and practices. The main factors to the prevention of laboratory-acquired infection are well-trained personnel who are knowledgable and biohazard aware, who are perceptive of the various ways of transmission, and who are professional in safe laboratory practice management. In addition, we should emphasize that appropriate facilities, practices and procedures are to be used by the laboratory workers for the handling of emerging viruses in a safe and secure manner. This review is aimed at providing researchers and laboratory personnel with basic biosafety principles to protect themselves from exposure to emerging viruses while working in the laboratory. This paper focuses on what emerging viruses are, why emerging viruses can cause laboratory-acquired infection, how to assess the risk of working with emerging viruses, and how laboratory-acquired infection can be prevented. Control measures used in the laboratory designed as such that they protect workers from emerging viruses and safeguard the public through the safe disposal of infectious wastes are also addressed.

Study on the immunization status and its influencing factors among workers from the polio network laboratories in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To Investigate the immune status and influencing factors of provincial polio network laboratory (PNL) workers in China so as to provide evidence for the development of related strategies to protect personnel working at the PNLs.Methods All the practitioners from the PNLs at the provincial centers for disease control,were selected as objects for this study,from October to December,2016,under a questionnaire survey.Information on status of immunity and influencing factors was collected,with SAS software,trend chi-square used for statistics analysis.Results A total of 77 workers were involved in this survey,with 60 (78％) of them completed the polio-based immune program but the rest 17 (22％) remained records unclear.66 people (about 86％) remembered clearly that they had received vaccination when engaging in the polio-lab work,but the rest 11 (14％) with only partial vaccination records.We also noticed that the Influencing factors realted to vaccination status were:age (x2 =2.48,P＜0.05),title (x2 =2.51,P＜0.05),years of employment (P＜0.000 1),education (x2 =0.74,P=0.46) and gender (x2 =0.46,P=0.50).Conclusion Immune status of the Chinese provincial PNL practitioners appeared fairly good as 86％ of all the workers had received polio-related vaccination,with 41％ of them completed a 3-time inoculation program,when started working in this field.

Study on the immunization status and its influencing factors among workers from the polio network laboratories in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To Investigate the immune status and influencing factors of provincial polio network laboratory (PNL) workers in China so as to provide evidence for the development of related strategies to protect personnel working at the PNLs.Methods All the practitioners from the PNLs at the provincial centers for disease control,were selected as objects for this study,from October to December,2016,under a questionnaire survey.Information on status of immunity and influencing factors was collected,with SAS software,trend chi-square used for statistics analysis.Results A total of 77 workers were involved in this survey,with 60 (78％) of them completed the polio-based immune program but the rest 17 (22％) remained records unclear.66 people (about 86％) remembered clearly that they had received vaccination when engaging in the polio-lab work,but the rest 11 (14％) with only partial vaccination records.We also noticed that the Influencing factors realted to vaccination status were:age (x2 =2.48,P＜0.05),title (x2 =2.51,P＜0.05),years of employment (P＜0.000 1),education (x2 =0.74,P=0.46) and gender (x2 =0.46,P=0.50).Conclusion Immune status of the Chinese provincial PNL practitioners appeared fairly good as 86％ of all the workers had received polio-related vaccination,with 41％ of them completed a 3-time inoculation program,when started working in this field.

Laboratory biosafety for handling emerging viruses

Emerging viruses are viruses whose occurrence has risen within the past twenty years,or whose presence is likely to increase in the near future.Diseases caused by emerging viruses are a major threat to global public health.In spite of greater awareness of safety and containment procedures,the handling of pathogenic viruses remains a likely source of infection,and mortality,among laboratory workers.There is a steady increase in both the number of laboratories and scientist handling emerging viruses for diagnostics and research.The potential for harm associated to work with these infectious agents can be minimized through the application of sound biosafety concepts and practices.The main factors to the prevention of laboratory-acquired infection are well-trained personnel who are knowledgable and biohazard aware,who are perceptive of the various ways of transmission,and who arc professional in safe laboratory practice management.In addition,we should emphasize that appropriate facilities,practices and procedures are to be used by the laboratory workers for the handling of emerging viruses in a safe and secure manner.This review is aimed at providing researchers and laboratory personnel with basic biosafety principles to protect themselves from exposure to emerging viruses while working in the laboratory.This paper focuses on what emerging viruses are,why emerging viruses can cause laboratory-acquired infection,how to assess the risk of working with emerging viruses,and how laboratory-acquired infection can be prevented.Control measures used in the laboratory designed as such that they protect workers from emerging viruses and safeguard the public through the safe disposal of infectious wastes are also addressed.

Outbreak of laboratory-acquired Brucella abortus in Brazil: a case report

Human brucellosis is an occupational disease affecting workers in slaughterhouses, butcher shops and the milk and dairy product industry as well as individuals who work in clinical or research laboratories. We report the first outbreak of a Brucella abortus infection in a Brazilian laboratory and compare the data obtained with reports available in the literature. Exposure was a result of damage to a biological safety cabinet and failure of the unidirectional airflow ventilation system. An epidemiological investigation identified 3 seroconverted individuals, 1 of whom had clinical manifestations and laboratory results compatible with infection at the time of exposure (n=11; attack rate=9.1%).

A Case of Murine Typhus Acquired in a Laboratory / 감염

Rickettia typhi is an obligate intracellular organism and usually seen microscopically as gram-negative pleomorphic coccobacilli. Murine typhus is an acute febrile illness caused by R. typhi and transmitted to human by fleas. Fever, skin rash, headache, and myalgia characterize the clinical illness. The risk for laboratory personnel is from exposure to infectious aerosols, accidental inoculation, or exposure to bites by infected ectoparasites. A 27-year old man was admitted to the hospital because of fever and myalgia. He had worked with R. typhi in a laboratory and was exposed to R. typhi 10 days ago. The present illness began seven days before admission, when he developed high fever and conjunctival injection. One day before admission, he developed generalized erythematous skin rash and generalized edema. Immunofluorescence test with rickettsial antigen was positive at 1:4,096 on admission. He received 200 mg of doxycycline for 7 days and became afebrile on the third day after treatment.