RESUMO
AIM: We aimed to ascertain if there had been any improvement in the number of nurses being immunised against hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in a large academic hospital in which, 10 years previously, only 30.6% of the nurses were immune to infection with the virus, and to ascertain the incidence of infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in these nurses. METHODS: We studied 170 predominantly black nurses. Their blood was tested for the presence of active or past HBV infection using appropriate immunoassays, HCV infection by chromatographic immunoassays confirmed by polymerase chain reaction assays, and HIV using a rapid test confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS: Serum of 89 (52.4%) nurses was positive for hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs). Of these nurses 18 said that they had not received the vaccine; the serum of 9 of these was positive for anti-hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) as well as anti-HBs, indicating natural infection with the virus. Of the nurses positive for anti-HBs, 89 were tested for anti-HBc; 28.2% tested positive for anti-HBc. Three nurses gave dates of immunisation that fell outside of their nursing careers; 3 (1.8%) were actively infected with the virus; 2 (1.8%) were infected with HCV; 10 nurses (5.9%) were positive for HIV. CONCLUSION: Nurses at this academic hospital remain at high risk of work-related HBV infection.
Assuntos
Vírus da Hepatite B/imunologia , Hepatite B , Transmissão de Doença Infecciosa do Paciente para o Profissional , Exposição Ocupacional/prevenção & controle , Vacinação , Adulto , Feminino , HIV/imunologia , Infecções por HIV/diagnóstico , Infecções por HIV/epidemiologia , Infecções por HIV/transmissão , Infecções por HIV/virologia , Hepacivirus/imunologia , Hepatite B/diagnóstico , Hepatite B/prevenção & controle , Hepatite B/transmissão , Hepatite B/virologia , Antígenos do Núcleo do Vírus da Hepatite B/sangue , Antígenos de Superfície da Hepatite B/sangue , Hepatite C/diagnóstico , Hepatite C/epidemiologia , Hepatite C/transmissão , Hepatite C/virologia , Hospitais Universitários , Humanos , Imunoensaio/métodos , Incidência , Transmissão de Doença Infecciosa do Paciente para o Profissional/prevenção & controle , Transmissão de Doença Infecciosa do Paciente para o Profissional/estatística & dados numéricos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Medição de Risco , Comportamento de Redução do Risco , África do Sul/epidemiologia , Vacinação/métodos , Vacinação/estatística & dados numéricosRESUMO
The practice of shift-work scheduling has long been part of normal work duties in emergency services such as health and security. It is only recently, in the wake of growing job opportunities and booming industries, where more employees are needed to keep services running over 24-hour periods that studies on the effects of shift work on workers' health have begun to delve deeper. The desynchronisation that occurs in circadian rhythms, with respect to sleep cycles, predisposes employees to coronary heart disease, gastrointestinal disturbances, increased risk of breast cancer and poor pregnancy outcomes. This literature review focuses on circadian rhythms, their molecular components, disturbances of these rhythms as a result of shift work and the adverse effects thereof on the cardiovascular system.
