Influenza Vaccination Programs for Healthcare Personnel: Organizational Issues and Beyond.

Healthcare personnel (HCP) are a high priority group for influenza vaccination aiming to protect them but also to protect vulnerable patients and healthcare services from healthcare-associated influenza and HCP absenteeism. Multi-component influenza vaccination programs targeting behavioral, organizational, and administrative barriers are critical, if influenza vaccination rates among HCP are to be raised on a sustained basis. Mandatory influenza vaccination policy is the only single intervention that can achieve high and sustainable vaccination rates in HCP in short term.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among Belgian workers in long-term care facilities.

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) can be a source of SARS-CoV-2 within long-term care facilities (LTCFs); therefore, we analysed the data from a testing programme among LTCF employees.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and its determinants among employees of LTCFs and the risk for fellow workers and residents.

Methods: Testing started at week 15, the first wave's peak, using nasopharyngeal swabs for PCR up to week 23.

Global infectious disease risks associated with occupational exposure among non-healthcare workers: a systematic review of the literature.

Objectives: Employees in non-healthcare occupations may be in several ways exposed to infectious agents. Improved knowledge about the risks is needed to identify opportunities to prevent work-related infectious diseases. The objective of the current study was to provide an updated overview of the published evidence on the exposure to pathogens among non-healthcare workers.

PROBE Study: A Sentinel Surveillance System to Monitor Exposure of Belgian Employees to Hazardous Chemicals: A Feasibility Study.

Objective: To test the feasibility of collecting reliable and representative data on exposure of Belgian employees to a selection of hazardous chemicals by using a sentinel surveillance method.

Method: In PROBE (Hazardous chemical Products Register for Occupational use in Belgium), 47 occupational physicians were recruited as a sentinel network. Employees answered a web-based survey assessing their past week exposure to 22 chemicals.

Assessment of the absorbed dose after exposure to surgical smoke in an operating room.

Surgical smoke produced by electrosurgery contains various chemical substances such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The aim of this study is to investigate airborne concentrations of VOCs and PAHs during electrosurgery in an operating room, in relation to metabolites in urine in order to assess the absorbed dose. A 5-day exposure study was set up in a general surgery operation room including surgeons, scrub assistants and circulation nurses (n = 15).