Decontamination ; Disinfection ; Manikins ; Protective Clothing ; Personal Protective Equipment ; Health Personnel

Objective: To get insight into the current practice of noise reduction effect of workers as they wore hearing protectors in different domestic enterprises and the possible affected factors. Methods: From October 2020 to April 2021, using a random sampling method, 1197 workers exposed to noise in petrochemical factories, textile factories, and parts manufacturing factories were selected as the study subjects. The noise reduction effect of hearing protectors worn by workers in daily use was tested using a hearing protector suitability testing system. The personal sound attenuation level (PAR) was compared among workers in three enterprises, Targeted intervention and repetitive testing were conducted for workers who did not meet the noise reduction effect required by the enterprise, and the changes in PAR of workers before and after the intervention were compared. The comparison of baseline PARs between two or more groups was performed using the Mann Whitney test, the comparison of baseline PARs with post intervention PARs was performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank sum test, and the comparison of qualitative data between two or more groups was performed using the Chi square test. Results: The median baseline PAR for all workers was 15 dB. Men, age<30 years old, education level at or above college level, working experience of 5 to 15 years, and those who used hearing protectors for 5 to 15 years had higher PARs, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). The median difference in baseline PAR among workers from three enterprises was statistically significant (H=175.06, P<0.01). The median PAR of subjects who did not pass the baseline increased from 3 dB to 21 dB after intervention (Z=-27.92, P<0.01) . Conclusion: Some workers wearing hearing protectors do not meet the required PAR, and low PARs may be related to incorrect wearing methods and incorrect selection of hearing protectors. As a tool for testing, training, and assisting in selection, the hearing protector suitability testing system is of great significance for worker hearing protection.
Male ; Humans ; Adult ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/prevention & control* ; Ear Protective Devices ; Noise, Occupational/prevention & control* ; Hearing ; Audiometry

Humans ; Protective Clothing

Since mid-December of 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection has been spreading from Wuhan, China. The confirmed COVID-19 patients in South Korea are those who came from or visited China. As secondary transmissions have occurred and the speed of transmission is accelerating, there are rising concerns about community infections. The 54-year old male is the third patient diagnosed with COVID-19 infection in Korea. He is a worker for a clothing business and had mild respiratory symptoms and intermittent fever in the beginning of hospitalization, and pneumonia symptoms on chest computerized tomography scan on day 6 of admission. This patient caused one case of secondary transmission and three cases of tertiary transmission. Hereby, we report the clinical findings of the index patient who was the first to cause tertiary transmission outside China. Interestingly, after lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra, AbbVie) was administered, β-coronavirus viral loads significantly decreased and no or little coronavirus titers were observed.
China ; Clothing ; Commerce ; Coronavirus ; Fever ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Pneumonia ; Thorax ; Viral Load

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current situation of virus exposure risk incidents of nurses against corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, and to provide reference evidence for nursing managers to protect nursing staff who were working in the isolation ward. METHODS: In the study, 308 nursing staff against COVID-19 working in the isolation ward in Wuhan were conveniently selected to participate in the investigation. The designed questionnaires including 7 kinds of protective exposure risk events were made by the team of researchers on the basis of literature review and interview with the nurses in Wuhan. All the participants recalled their working experience in the status of dressing in personal protective equipment and filled in the questionnaires online by WeChat according to the same instruction. RESULTS: The questionnaires were filled in validly by a total of 304 nursing staff, of whom 88.8% received emergency training on the prevention and dealing measurement of exposure risk events. The incidence of shoe cover contamination, falling off or torn was relatively high, about 53.6%. Due to the protection of gloves, the incidence of hand or skin contamination was relatively low, about 14.1%. The most nervousness of protective exposure risk event for nurses was N95 mask contamination, falling off or shifting, with a score of 8.2±2.3, showing a higher psychiatric burden. Single factor analysis found that the number of days in Wuhan was different, the number of the types of protective risk events occurred was different (χ²=14.562, P=0.024), orderly multivariate Logistic regression found that men were the independent protective factor for the number of the types of protective exposure risk events that occurred (P=0.019). CONCLUSION Protective exposure risk events may occur in the work of nursing staff working in the isolation ward in Wuhan. It is necessary to guide nurses to prevent the occurrence of protective exposure risk events and effectively deal with them, so as to prevent virus exposure and reduce psycholo-gical burden.
Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; China ; Coronavirus Infections/transmission* ; Ear Protective Devices ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Exposure/prevention & control* ; Pandemics/prevention & control* ; Pneumonia, Viral/transmission* ; Risk Factors ; SARS-CoV-2

OBJECTIVE: To design a new modified sick clothes for electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, and to observe its clinical application effect. METHODS: In order to overcome the shortcomings of the existing modified ECG monitoring clothes, a new type of modified sick clothes was designed on the basis of the traditional sick clothes, and a national utility model patent was obtained. 408 conscious patients with ECG monitoring admitted to department of neurology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from January 2015 to June 2018 were enrolled, and they were randomly divided into three groups according to the order of admission for comparing the wearing effect of three kinds of sick clothes. 133 patients dressed traditional clothes, while 139 patients dressed modified ECG monitoring clothes. According to the method reported in the literature, the pockets were removed on the basis of the traditional patient clothes, and a circular hole 5 cm in diameter was made at the position of the electrodes for ECG monitoring, which was used to pass through the lead wire and the electrodes. 136 patients dressed the new modified sick clothes. In view of the inconvenience of ECG monitoring and stimulation of patients' thoracic and abdominal skin by traditional sick clothes, the existing modified ECG monitoring clothes were not easy to operate, the location of electrodes sticking was not easy to judge and the lead line was messy, the new modified sick clothes were still based on the traditional ones. The three circular holes of the existing modified ECG monitoring clothes were made into incisions about 12 cm in length to facilitate the ECG monitoring lead line and electrodes sticking. A compression band or a simple patch was added to each side near the shoulder for tidying up the fixed lead. The self-evaluation of patient's comfort, the operation time of ECG monitoring by nurses, skin allergy rate and lead damage rate were recorded and compared among the three groups. RESULTS: Compared with the traditional sick clothes and the modified ECG monitoring clothes groups, the patients in the new modified sick clothes group had higher comfort [the proportion of no discomfort: 11.0% (15/136) vs. 0% (0/133), 5.8% (8/139); the proportion of severe discomfort: 0% (0/136) vs. 4.5% (6/133), 0.7% (1/139), all P < 0.05], the installation and disassembly time of ECG monitoring by nurses was significantly shortened [installation time (s): 69.12±16.47 vs. 96.74±3.89, 88.24±9.83; disassembly time (s): 50.24±4.54 vs. 75.76±4.98, 66.54±7.86, all P < 0.01], and the skin allergies rate [3.7% (5/136) vs. 15.8% (21/133), 8.6% (12/139)] and the insulation loss rate of the lead wires [2.9% (4/136) vs. 15.8% (21/133), 7.9% (11/139)] were significantly lowered (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The ECG monitoring patients using new modified sick clothes could increase their comfort, reduce the workload of nurses, save medical consumables, and have beautiful appearance and high practicability, which was worthy of clinical application.
Clothing ; Electrocardiography ; Electrodes ; Humans ; Monitoring, Physiologic

protective clothing. Multiple bullae were initially noted. On the next day, fluctuation in bullae and purulent discharge were observed, and central eschar change was noted. On the 18th day after the burn, escharectomy and full-thickness skin graft were performed. Therefore, workers who use dichloromethane should wear protective clothing at workplaces. If exposed to the chemical, the worker should be instructed to do a quick wash and visit the hospital.]]>
Burns ; Burns, Chemical ; Hand ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Male ; Methylene Chloride ; Paint ; Protective Clothing ; Skin ; Skin Transplantation ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness of occupational hazards and personal protective equipment use among dental hygienists (DHs).METHODS: A total of 271 self-administered questionnaires were obtained from 280 DHs working at dental hospitals or clinics in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea.RESULTS: The occupational hazards included work involving dust (94.1%), volatile substances (86.0%), noise (97.0%), and light-curing units (96.7%). The proportion of dental hygiene tasks that participants perceived as harmful were 42.4%, 51.7%, 9.2%, and 31.4% in the same order as above. The proportion of participants who used dust-proof masks during work involving dust was 1.1%. Those who wore gas-proof masks and gloves for work using volatile substances were 0.7% and 31.2%, respectively. Participants who used goggles for work involving light-curing units were 31.0%. None of the participants used ear plugs for work involving noise. A total of 22.9% of the participants recognized the Material Safety Data Sheet, while 79.7% had never been educated about harmful work environments.CONCLUSION: When compared to exposure status and perception of occupational hazards, the level of protective equipment use was very low. Extra measures to increase DHs’ use of personal protective equipment are necessary.
Daegu ; Dental Hygienists ; Dust ; Ear ; Eye Protective Devices ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Masks ; Material Safety Data Sheets ; Noise ; Occupations ; Oral Hygiene ; Personal Protective Equipment

Forefoot disorders are often seen in clinical practice. Forefoot deformity and pain can deteriorate gait function and decrease quality of life. This review presents common forefoot disorders and conservative treatment using an insole or orthosis. Metatarsalgia is a painful foot condition affecting the metatarsal (MT) region of the foot. A MT pad, MT bar, or forefoot cushion can be used to alleviate MT pain. Hallux valgus is a deformity characterized by medial deviation of the first MT and lateral deviation of the hallux. A toe spreader, valgus splint, and bunion shield are commonly applied to patients with hallux valgus. Hallux limitus and hallux rigidus refer to painful limitations of dorsiflexion of the first metatarsophalangeal joint. A kinetic wedge foot orthosis or rocker sole can help relieve symptoms from hallux limitus or rigidus. Hammer, claw, and mallet toes are sagittal plane deformities of the lesser toes. Toe sleeve or padding can be applied over high-pressure areas in the proximal or distal interphalangeal joints or under the MT heads. An MT off-loading insole can also be used to alleviate symptoms following lesser toe deformities. Morton's neuroma is a benign neuroma of an intermetatarsal plantar nerve that leads to a painful condition affecting the MT area. The MT bar, the plantar pad, or a more cushioned insole would be useful. In addition, patients with any of the above various forefoot disorders should avoid tight-fitting or high-heeled shoes. Applying an insole or orthosis and wearing proper shoes can be beneficial for managing forefoot disorders.
Animals ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Foot ; Foot Orthoses ; Gait ; Hallux ; Hallux Limitus ; Hallux Rigidus ; Hallux Valgus ; Hammer Toe Syndrome ; Head ; Hoof and Claw ; Humans ; Joints ; Metatarsal Bones ; Metatarsalgia ; Metatarsophalangeal Joint ; Neuroma ; Orthotic Devices ; Quality of Life ; Shoes ; Splints ; Toes

The inhalation of naphthalene used as deodorant balls in public toilets could be an important cancer risk factor. The atmospheric concentration of naphthalene in public toilets (C(in)) was estimated both by a polyurethane foam passive air sampler (PUF-PAS) deployed in nine public toilets in Seoul, Korea and by a steady-state indoor air quality model, including emission estimation using Monte-Carlo simulation. Based on the estimated C(in), cancer risk was also assessed for cleaning workers and the general population. The steady-state C(in) estimated using the estimated emission rate, which assumed that air exchange was the only process by which naphthalene was removed, was much greater than the C(in) value measured using PUF-PAS in nine public toilets, implying the importance of other removal processes, such as sorption to walls and the garments of visitors, as well as decreased emission rate owing to wetting of the naphthalene ball surface. The 95 percentile values of cancer risk for workers based on the estimation by PUF-PAS was 1.6×10⁻⁶, whereas those for the general public were lower than 1×10⁻⁶. The results suggested that naphthalene deodorant balls in public toilets may be an important cancer risk factor especially for the cleaning workers.
Air Pollution, Indoor ; Clothing ; Deodorants ; Inhalation Exposure ; Inhalation ; Korea ; Polyurethanes ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors ; Seoul