BACKGROUND: Wearing a long-sleeved shirt and tucking the pants legs into the socks is recommended to prevent scrub typhus. This study investigated associations between the location of eschar and the type of clothes and shoes to evaluate the efficacy of these protective measures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One-hundred and fifty nine patients in whom scrub typhus was confirmed or suspected based on the typical clinical manifestations, presence of eschar, or positive results of serologic tests at 6 Korean hospitals from October to December 2005 were included in this study. We collected the information on the location of eschar, presumed exposure date to chiggers, and the clothes and shoes which they had worn. RESULTS: Serologic tests were positive in 99 patients. Eschars were observed in 142 patients and 6 of them exhibited more than 2 eschars. Eighty-two (60.3%) of 136 patients with a single eschar had an eschar on the lower half of the body. Of the 44 patients whose exposure date could be estimated, and who had only a single eschar, 5 of the 17 patients with eschars in the lower half of their bodies, and none of the 27 patients with eschars in the upper half of their bodies went barefoot or wore open footware (P=0.006). Only 4 patients tucked the pants into their socks, and an eschar was found in the lower half in one patient, and in the upper half of the body in the other 3 patients. Of 42 patients who wore long-sleeved shirts, eschars were found in their lower bodies in 16, and on their upper bodies in 26 (P=1.00). CONCLUSION: When the feet were not protected properly with shoes, eschars were found more frequently on the lower half of the body than on the upper half. Wearing a long-sleeved shirt or tucking the pants legs into the socks was not found to be significantly correlated to the location of eschars. Further studies involving larger samples are necessary for the development of practical guidelines of protective measures to prevent scrub typhus.
Clothing* ; Foot ; Humans ; Leg ; Orientia tsutsugamushi ; Protective Clothing ; Scrub Typhus* ; Serologic Tests ; Shoes ; Trombiculidae

BACKGROUND: Wearing a long-sleeved shirt and tucking the pants legs into the socks is recommended to prevent scrub typhus. This study investigated associations between the location of eschar and the type of clothes and shoes to evaluate the efficacy of these protective measures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One-hundred and fifty nine patients in whom scrub typhus was confirmed or suspected based on the typical clinical manifestations, presence of eschar, or positive results of serologic tests at 6 Korean hospitals from October to December 2005 were included in this study. We collected the information on the location of eschar, presumed exposure date to chiggers, and the clothes and shoes which they had worn. RESULTS: Serologic tests were positive in 99 patients. Eschars were observed in 142 patients and 6 of them exhibited more than 2 eschars. Eighty-two (60.3%) of 136 patients with a single eschar had an eschar on the lower half of the body. Of the 44 patients whose exposure date could be estimated, and who had only a single eschar, 5 of the 17 patients with eschars in the lower half of their bodies, and none of the 27 patients with eschars in the upper half of their bodies went barefoot or wore open footware (P=0.006). Only 4 patients tucked the pants into their socks, and an eschar was found in the lower half in one patient, and in the upper half of the body in the other 3 patients. Of 42 patients who wore long-sleeved shirts, eschars were found in their lower bodies in 16, and on their upper bodies in 26 (P=1.00). CONCLUSION: When the feet were not protected properly with shoes, eschars were found more frequently on the lower half of the body than on the upper half. Wearing a long-sleeved shirt or tucking the pants legs into the socks was not found to be significantly correlated to the location of eschars. Further studies involving larger samples are necessary for the development of practical guidelines of protective measures to prevent scrub typhus.
Clothing* ; Foot ; Humans ; Leg ; Orientia tsutsugamushi ; Protective Clothing ; Scrub Typhus* ; Serologic Tests ; Shoes ; Trombiculidae

Humans ; Protective Clothing

PURPOSE: Fire suits are very important protective equipment for firefighters. In fire scene, radiant heat and warmed water invade into conventional protective clothing gap. The safety of firefighters has long been a hot topic in Korea. Nevertheless, there are still lack of researches and investigations for safety of firefighters. We revealed the characteristics of the burn site and the hospitalization of injured firefighters according to the wearing of the conventional and special protective clothing. METHODS: This study analyzed the data obtained from the online survey (ko.surveymonkey.com) from September 19, 2016 to October 21, 2016 for nationwide firefighters who are cooperating with the National Security Agency. 4,891 firefighters responded to the questionnaire and 424 burn victims were reported. The analysis was conducted with 322 except 102 incomplete responders. The obtained data was analyzed with Chi-square test (P<0.05). RESULTS: The most common site of burn injury during firefighting was hand 166 (51.6%) followed by face 79 (24.5%), neck 55 (17.1%) and wrist 49 (15.2%). The number of people wearing conventional protective clothing was 81 (25.2%) and the number of people wearing special protective clothing was 20 (6.2%). The number of people wearing protective gloves was 247 (76.7%). In terms of protective clothing in injured firefighters, special protective clothing showed lower hospitalization rate comparing with conventional protective clothing (24.7% vs. 5.0%, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The most common site of burn injury in Firefighters is hand. The special protective clothing showed lower hospitalization rate comparing with conventional protective clothing.
Burns* ; Firefighters* ; Fires ; Gloves, Protective ; Hand ; Hospitalization* ; Hot Temperature ; Human Body* ; Humans ; Korea ; Neck ; Protective Clothing* ; Security Measures ; Water ; Wrist

OBJECTIVES: To assess the protective effects of wearing protective devices among the residents and volunteers who participated in the cleanup of the Hebei Spirit oil spill. METHODS: A total of 288 residents and 724 volunteers were surveyed about symptoms, whether they were wearing protective devices and potential confounding variables. The questionnaires were administered from the second to the sixth week following the accident. Spot urine samples were collected and analyzed for metabolites of 4 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 2 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 6 heavy metals. The association between the wearing of protective devices and various symptoms was assessed using a multiple logistic regression adjusted for confounding variables. A multiple generalized linear regression model adjusted for the covariates was used to test for a difference in least-square mean concentration of urinary biomarkers between residents who wore protective devices and those who did not. RESULTS: Thirty nine to 98% of the residents and 62-98% of volunteers wore protective devices. Levels of fatigue and fever were higher among residents not wearing masks than among those who did wear masks (odds ratio 4.5; 95% confidence interval 1.23-19.86). Urinary mercury levels were found to be significantly higher among residents not wearing work clothes or boots (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Because the survey was not performed during the initial high-exposure period, no significant difference was found in metabolite levels between people who wore protective devices and those who did not, except for mercury, whose biological half-life is more than 6 weeks.
Adult ; Aged ; Biological Markers/urine ; *Disasters ; Environmental Exposure/*prevention & control ; Environmental Pollutants/*urine ; Female ; Gloves, Protective ; Humans ; Male ; Masks ; Metals, Heavy/urine ; Middle Aged ; Oceans and Seas ; *Petroleum ; Polycyclic Hydrocarbons, Aromatic/urine ; Protective Clothing ; *Protective Devices ; Respiratory Protective Devices ; Shoes ; Volatile Organic Compounds/urine ; Voluntary Workers

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

OBJECTIVETo analyze the capacity of personal protection on poison emergency items in Chinese disease control and prevention institutes.

METHODSEvaluation analysis based on data obtained from investigating personal protection equipments and professional knowledge quizzing about personal protection in poisoning control of 57 different level centers for disease control and prevention selected from China by a multi-stage stratified sampling.

RESULTSAll 80.70% of the institutes possessed the protection equipments, provincial, municipal, county level institutes were 100.00%, 95.24%, 66.67%, respectively, with significant statistical difference (H = 7.94, P < 0.05). The average level of the type of individual protective equipments in disease control and prevention institutes was (5.42 +/- 4.00) kinds, the average points in category of provincial, municipal, county level institutes were (11.33 +/- 3.67), (6.52 +/- 3.16), (3.47 +/- 3.10) kinds, being statistically significant (F = 17.30, P < 0.05); type difference counts of disease control and prevention institutes in economic development, secondary, less-developed regions were (6.41 +/- 4.03), (3.55 +/- 3.35), (6.45 +/- 4.07) kinds, with statistical significance (F = 3.70, P < 0.05). Protection equipments chiefly possessed were latex gloves, gauze masks and C-protective clothing. Protective clothing and respiratory protective equipments were insufficient evidently. The average points in testing personal protection basic knowledge were (71.39 +/- 12.52) points; there were no differences between different institutes with different economic regions, levels, technical posts and title degrees.

CONCLUSIONCertain advances have been achieved in recent years in personal protection capacity of institutes for disease control and prevention, but far from the actual demands, and maybe no enough effective response on emergency occurred.

FeCl₂ is often used in stainless steel surface processing, wastewater treatment, or in laboratories. Effects of exposure to FeCl₂ include predominantly systemic side effects that can occur when inhalation or oral intake occurs. However, it is known that skin irritation or burning can be caused by exposure to skin, but there has never been reported a case of deep FeCl₂ burns. We will introduce a case of a patient treated with deep second degree burn due to FeCl₂ exposure. A 27-year-old healthy man came in contact with FeCl₂ on his right wrist. The patient didn't wear any protective clothing, and the clothes were contaminated with FeCl₂ about one hour ago, but the patient was not aware of the danger of exposure. After an hour, the patient felt tingling, so he took off his exposed clothes and washed exposed skin, then came to our hospital. Initially there were mild erosion, erythema, and tingling symptoms. Two days later, eschar began to develop and wound began to deepen. Surgical procedure was not performed and it took 5 weeks for the patient's wound to heal. As a rule, workers using FeCl₂ are required to wear protective clothing. In Korea, companies and laboratories using FeCl₂ are not strictly required the use of protective clothing. Workers handling FeCl₂ should be strictly encouraged to wear protective clothing, if exposed, should be instructed to visit the hospital after a quick washing away.
Adult ; Burns* ; Burns, Chemical ; Clothing ; Erythema ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Korea ; Protective Clothing ; Skin ; Stainless Steel ; Waste Water* ; Wounds and Injuries ; Wrist

It is believed that surgery on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients is dangerous and should be avoided due to the possibility of postoperative infection of the patients or HIV occupational transmission to the medical staff. We discuss here the preparations and measures needed to conduct surgery safely on HIV-positive patients, based on our experience. We performed sex reassignment surgery on two HIV-positive patients from January 2013 to January 2015. Both of them were receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy and were asymptomatic, with a normal CD4 count (>500 cells/microL). The HIV-RNA was undetectable within the bloodstream. All the staff wore protective clothing, glasses, and three pairs of protective gloves in the operating room because of the possibility of transmission. Prophylactic antibiotics were administered to the patients, and antiviral therapy was performed during their perioperative course. Neither of the patients had postoperative complications, and none of the medical staff experienced accidental exposure. Both patients had satisfactory surgery outcomes without complications. HIV-positive patients can undergo surgery safely without increased risk of postoperative complications or HIV transmission to the staff through the proper use of antibiotics, active antiretroviral therapy, and supplemental protective measures with post-exposure prophylaxis for the staff in case of HIV exposure.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active ; CD4 Lymphocyte Count ; Eyeglasses ; Glass ; Gloves, Protective ; HIV ; HIV Infections ; Humans* ; Medical Staff ; Operating Rooms ; Post-Exposure Prophylaxis ; Postoperative Complications ; Protective Clothing ; Sex Reassignment Surgery*

Accidents ; Disasters ; Humans ; Protective Clothing ; Protective Devices ; Rescue Work ; organization & administration