Evaluation of Aids and Hepatitis-B knowledge and job satisfaction among hairdressers and barbers in Turkey

Blood-borne viruses, includingthe human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus, have certain common epidemiological characteristics and these viruses infect millions of people worldwide. This study aimed to determine the job satisfaction and the level of knowledge and practices regarding infectious diseases of employees working as hairdressers and barbers.This descriptive and cross-sectional study comprised 1200 hairdressers and barbers. The study sample comprised 628 people who consented to participate in the study. The mean age of the participants who participated in the study was 28, 13 ± 6. 9 years. The mean job satisfaction score of the participants was 3.85 ± 0.58. The job satisfaction score was found to be higher among those with sufficient knowledge of hepatitis B (p < 0.005). Employees should be provided performance trainings to achieve job satisfaction. It is recommended that employees be encouraged to wear gloves and gowns to protect their health and prevent contamination.

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

Occupational health problems and work practices of hairdressers in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

There are several million hairdressers worldwide who are chronically exposed to various chemicals used in hairdressing business. This study aimed at determining the occupational health problems and work practices of hairdressers in Uyo, Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in March 2017.The study participants consisted of all consenting hairdressers in Uyo metropolis, Nigeria who had been working for at least 6 months prior to the study. Data obtained was analyzed using STATA 12.1 software. Level of significance was set at 5%. A total of 429 hairdressers participated in the study. The mean age of respondents was 28.5 �7.5 years. Majority, (88.3%) were females and 63.9% were single. Ninety percent had at least secondary education, while 47.6% had worked for > 3years. Health problems reported included back pain 61.5%, tiredness 57.1%, Itching/ redness of hands 43.1%, eye itching 26.1%, catarrh 22.8% and hearing difficulty 17.7%. Injuries included needle pricks 59.0% and cuts 46.9%. Standing for > 8 hours was reported by 33% of respondents. Use of any personal protective equipment (PPE) was 67.6%. The most commonly used was glove 42.7%. Awareness about PPE increased with respondent's level of education (p<0.05).Hand lesions were significantly less among those who used gloves as 95.6% had no chemical burns and rashes, 95.1% experienced no dryness and 63.4% had no itching/redness (p<0.05). The respondents reported several health problems. Work practices included poor use of PPE and prolonged standing. Regular workplace safety training, shift duty and use of ergonomically suitable chairs are advocated for hairdressers

Estudio comparativo del rasurado pre-operatorio con el uso de clipper v/s máquina común / Comparative study of intraoperative period barbering with clipper use v/s common machine

Teniendo en cuenta que son escasas las publicaciones chilenas que evalúan la técnica del rasurado como parte de la preparación pre-operatoria de la zona quirúrgica, nos hemos visto incentivadas para realizar el presente trabajo de investigación, con el objeto de identificar y a la vez comparar las ventajas y desventajas que surgen en la utilización de la máquina de afeitar común y la máquina eléctrica (clipper) en el rasurado pre-operatorio del paciente quirúrgico en un Hospital del Sistema de Servicio Nacional de Salud. El estudio comprende un análisis prospectivo de 106 pacientes de ambos sexos, con un rango de edad entre 15 y 83 años sometidos a cirugía electiva entre los meses de Enero y Febrero de 1991. Tanto los pacientes rasurados con máquina común como los rasurados con clipper fueron preparados la noche antes de la intervención quirúrgica por los auxiliares de enfermería y las autoras respectivamente. El instrumento diseñado midió básicamente 4 elementos: Dolor, Lesiones cutáneas, Riesgo en la Manipulación y aparición de infección. Paramétros a observar durante el rasurado, inmediatamente después de él y hasta el tercer día post-operatorio. El método de rasurado con clipper se asoció con significativamente menos dolor y ausencia de lesiones cutáneas durante la ejecución de la técnica. Demostrando que implementar este procedimiento remite más ventajas que desventajas para el paciente. Por el contrario la técnica de rasurado común demostró ser más dolorosa y se asoció con una mayor incidencia de lesiones cutáneas post-rasurado. Siendo más evidentes las desventajas que las ventajas. Lamentablemente por la escases de pacientes infectados durante los meses en que se llevó a cabo el estudio y por la incapacidad de controlar la gran cantidad de factores que intervienen directamente en la infección postoperatoria no fue posible correlacionar los resultados obtenidos con el número de pacientes infectados de la muestra