Veterinarian COVID-19 vaccine uptake was widespread, but safety and efficacy concerns held some back: descriptive results from a survey of AVMA members' perceptions of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: Assess COVID-19 vaccine uptake among veterinarians and describe unvaccinated veterinarians' perceptions of COVID-19 disease and vaccines. SAMPLE: 2,721 (14%) of 19,654 randomly sampled AVMA members. PROCEDURES: A survey of AVMA members was conducted between June 8 and June 18, 2021. Information was collected on COVID-19 experience, vaccination intention, and perceptions of COVID-19 disease and vaccines. RESULTS: A total of 2,721 AVMA members completed the survey. Most respondents reported receiving a COVID-19 vaccine (89% [2,428/2,721]). Most unvaccinated respondents disagreed with concerns about contracting (67% [196/292]) or being harmed by (65% [187/287]) COVID-19 but agreed with concerns about short- (79% [228/290]) and long-term (89% [258/289]) side effects of COVID-19 vaccines. Over 91% (268/292) did not agree that COVID-19 vaccine benefits outweigh the risk. Although 83% (244/293) of unvaccinated respondents reported being unlikely to get a COVID-19 vaccine, 47% (137/291) agreed they would be more likely if they knew people vaccinated without serious side effects. Perceptions of COVID-19 disease severity and susceptibility, beliefs about COVID-19 vaccine benefits, and barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination varied with vaccination intention. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results of the AVMA survey suggested that COVID-19 vaccination was widespread among veterinarians in June 2021. Understanding unvaccinated respondents' health beliefs about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines may facilitate veterinarian vaccination participation. Veterinarians who abstained from COVID-19 vaccination cited concerns about the safety, efficacy, and necessity of COVID-19 vaccines. Our results suggested that demonstrating vaccine safety and a favorable risk-to-benefit ratio of vaccination may help reduce vaccine hesitancy and increase uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among veterinarians.

Impact of Epidemic Intelligence Service Training in Occupational Respiratory Epidemiology.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a fellowship in applied epidemiology for physicians, veterinarians, nurses, scientists, and other health professionals. Each EIS fellow is assigned to a position at a federal, state, or local site for 2 years of on-the-job training in outbreak investigation, epidemiologic research, surveillance system evaluation, and scientific communication. Although the original focus of the program on the control of infectious diseases remains salient, positions are available for training in other areas of public health, including occupational respiratory disease. In this Perspective, we describe the EIS program, highlight three positions (one federal and two state-based) that provide training in occupational respiratory epidemiology, and summarize trainees' experiences in these positions over a 30-year period. For early-career health professionals interested in understanding and preventing occupational respiratory hazards and diseases, EIS offers a unique career development opportunity.

All causes of death among veterinarians in the United States during 1979 through 2015.

OBJECTIVE: To assess proportionate mortality from all causes for male and female US veterinarians during 1979 through 2015. SAMPLE: Death records for 11,620 veterinarians. PROCEDURES: For this proportionate mortality ratio (PMR) study, information for veterinarians who died during 1979 through 2015 was obtained from AVMA obituary and life insurance databases and submitted to a centralized database of US death records to obtain underlying causes of death. Decedent data that met records-matching criteria were imported into a software program for calculation of PMRs for all causes stratified by sex and indirectly standardized for age, race, and 5-year calendar period with 95% CIs. RESULTS: 11,620 decedents consisted of 11,049 (95%) males and 571 (5%) females with a median age at death of 77 years. Proportionate mortality for all veterinarian decedents was higher than expected for melanoma (PMRs, 2.1 and 2.2 for males and females, respectively), suicide (PMRs, 2.1 and 3.5 for males and females, respectively), and transportation injuries (PMRs, 1.7 and 1.6 for males and females, respectively). Proportionate mortality for all decedents was lower than expected for respiratory cancers (PMRs, 0.6 and 0.5 for males and females, respectively), diabetes mellitus (PMRs, 0.7 and 0.4 for males and females, respectively), heart disease (PMRs, 0.9 and 0.6 for males and females, respectively), and respiratory disorders (PMRs, 0.7 and 0.6 for males and females, respectively). CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicated proportionate mortality from malignant melanoma, transportation injuries, and suicide for male and female veterinarians was higher than the general population. These data may help stakeholders improve veterinarian workplace safety and health guidelines.

COVID-19 mortality among Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and Transport Workers Union (TWU) workers-March-July 2020, New York City metro area.

BACKGROUND: Transit workers have jobs requiring close public contact for extended periods of time, placing them at increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and more likely to have risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related complications. Collecting timely occupational data can help inform public health guidance for transit workers; however, it is difficult to collect during a public health emergency. We used nontraditional epidemiological surveillance methods to report demographics and job characteristics of transit workers reported to have died from COVID-19. METHODS: We abstracted demographic and job characteristics from media scans on COVID-19 related deaths and reviewed COVID-19 memorial pages for the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and Transport Workers Union (TWU). ATU and TWU provided a list of union members who died from COVID-19 between March 1-July 7, 2020 and a total count of NYC metro area union members. Peer-reviewed publications identified through a scientific literature search were used to compile comparison demographic statistics of NYC metro area transit workers. We analyzed and reported characteristics of ATU and TWU NYC metro area decedents. RESULTS: We identified 118 ATU and TWU NYC metro area transit worker COVID-19 decedents with an incidence proportion of 0.3%. Most decedents were male (83%); median age was 58 years (range: 39-71). Median professional tenure was 20 years (range: 2-41 years). Operator (46%) was the most reported job classification. More than half of the decedents (57%) worked in positions associated with close public contact. CONCLUSION: Data gathered through nontraditional epidemiological surveillance methods provided insight into risk factors among this workforce, demonstrating the need for mitigation plans for this workforce and informing transit worker COVID-19 guidance as the pandemic progressed.

Non-malignant respiratory disease among workers in the rubber manufacturing industry: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Non-malignant respiratory disease (NMRD) cases have occurred among rubber manufacturing workers. We examined exposure to rubber manufacturing emissions as a risk factor for NMRD. METHODS: From a systematic literature review, we identified case reports and assessed cross-sectional and mortality studies for strength of evidence of positive association (strong, intermediate, non-significant positive association, none) between exposure to rubber manufacturing emissions and NMRD-related morbidity and mortality, and conducted two meta-analyses. RESULTS: We analyzed 62 articles. We identified 11 cases of NMRD. Nine (30%) of 30 cross-sectional studies and one (4%) of 26 mortality studies had strong evidence. The summary odds ratio and SMR for the cross-sectional and mortality meta-analyses were 3.83 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.28-6.51) and 0.90 (95%CI, 0.82-0.99), respectively. CONCLUSION: Available evidence supports rubber manufacturing emissions as a potential risk factor for NMRD-related morbidity. Further investigations with longer follow-up periods and inclusion of short-tenured workers could further define risks for NMRD and identify prevention strategies.

Suicide among veterinarians in the United States from 1979 through 2015.

OBJECTIVE To assess proportionate mortality ratios (PMRs) for suicide among male and female US veterinarians from 1979 through 2015. DESIGN PMR study. SAMPLE Death records for 11,620 veterinarians. PROCEDURES Information for veterinarians who died during 1979 through 2015 was obtained from AVMA obituary and life insurance databases and submitted to a centralized database of US death records to obtain underlying causes of death. Decedent data that met records-matching criteria were imported into a software program for calculation of PMRs for suicide stratified by sex and indirectly standardized for age, race, and 5-year calendar period with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS 398 deaths resulted from suicide; 326 (82%) decedents were male, 72 (18%) were female, and most (298 [75%]) were ≤ 65 years of age. The PMRs for suicide for all veterinarian decedents (2.1 and 3.5 for males and females, respectively), those in clinical positions (2.2 and 3.4 for males and females, respectively), and those in nonclinical positions (1.8 and 5.0 for males and females, respectively) were significantly higher than for the general US population. Among female veterinarians, the percentage of deaths by suicide was stable from 2000 until the end of the study, but the number of such deaths subjectively increased with each 5-year period. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results of the study indicated that PMRs for suicide of female as well as male veterinarians were higher than for the general population. These data may help to inform stakeholders in the creation and implementation of suicide prevention strategies designed for veterinarians.