Promoting Workplace Health, Safety, and Well-Being Among Essential Agricultural Workers Through Vaccine-Preventable Infectious Diseases Training in the Rio Grande Valley.

Introduction: Health, safety, and well-being training programs provide essential education on anticipating, identifying, and mitigating exposures like infectious diseases. Gaps in infectious diseases awareness and education became especially apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently were exacerbated by mis- and disinformation.

Methods: Vaccine-preventable infectious diseases training (influenza, hepatitis A and B, and tetanus infections, including COVID-19) was developed, delivered, and evaluated among 1,043 farmworkers, bodega workers, and production management in the Rio Grande Valley using mobile-learning technologies.

A Qualitative Assessment of Changes in Occupational Exposures Among Healthcare Facility Workers.

Adult-onset asthma, notably prevalent among healthcare professionals, especially nurses, is often attributed to occupational factors such as exposure to cleaning agents. Studies consistently underscore the substantial role of such exposure in work-related asthma among hospital staff. We aimed to (a) identify and characterize current practices in cleaning and aerosolized medication administration; (b) assess changes in practices since a similar 2003 study of Texas healthcare workers; and (c) identify factors contributing to diverse exposures within healthcare job categories.

Risk of Traumatic Brain Injury in Deployment and Nondeployment Settings Among Members of the Millennium Cohort Study.

Objective: To describe and quantify the prevalence and risk of deployment and nondeployment service-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) among participants of the Millennium Cohort Study.

Setting: Survey data.

Participants: 28 759 Millennium Cohort Study participants who were active duty, Reserves, or National Guard at the time of the survey.

Demographic Differences and Potential Bias From Automated Occupation Coding Among Mothers of Babies Born With or Without Cleft Lip and/or Cleft Palate in the Texas Birth Defects Registry.

Objective: To compare maternal demographics based on occupation coding status and evaluate potential bias by excluding manually coded occupations.

Methods: This case-control study assessed cases with clefts obtained from the Texas Birth Defects Registry. The NIOSH Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System automatically coded occupations, with manual coding for unclassified cases.

Reply to Ayoub-Charette et al. Lack of Biological Plausibility and Major Methodological Issues Cast Doubt on the Association between Aspartame and Autism. Comment on "Fowler et al. Daily Early-Life Exposures to Diet Soda and Aspartame Are Associated with Autism in Males: A Case-Control Study. 2023, , 3772".

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the concerns raised by Ayoub-Charette et al [...

The Role of Location in the Spread of SARS-CoV-2: Examination of Cases and Exposed Contacts in South Texas, Using Social Network Analysis.

Objective: This study sought to better understand the types of locations that serve as hubs for the transmission of COVID-19.

Methods: Contact tracers interviewed individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between November 2020 and March 2021, as well as the people with whom those individuals had contact. We conducted a 2-mode social network analysis of people by the types of places they visited, focusing on the forms of centrality exhibited by place types.

Cleaning Tasks and Products and Asthma Among Health Care Professionals.

Objective: Health care workers are at risk for work-related asthma, which may be affected by changes in cleaning practices. We examined associations of cleaning tasks and products with work-related asthma in health care workers in 2016, comparing them with prior results from 2003.

Methods: We estimated asthma prevalence by professional group and explored associations of self-reported asthma with job-exposure matrix-based cleaning tasks/products in a representative Texas sample of 9914 physicians, nurses, respiratory/occupational therapists, and nurse aides.

The association of employment status and unwanted job loss with maternal oral health experiences: findings from the pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system.

Background: Oral health is an essential component of a healthy pregnancy. While most women work full-time while pregnant, research has overlooked the impact of occupational status and job loss on oral health experiences during pregnancy. To examine the impact of employment status and job loss on oral health experiences during pregnancy in the United States.

Prevalence and Geographic Distribution of Self-Reported Chronic Kidney Disease and Potential Risk Factors in Central America.

Background: Cases for chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) are increasing in specific disease hotspots located in rural agricultural communities over Central America. The goal of the study was to estimate the prevalence and geographic distribution of self-reported work-related CKD and associated risk factors for CKDu by industry sector in Central America.

Methods: We calculated the prevalence and distribution of self-reported CKD, work-related CKD, and suspected CKDu risk factors among the 9032 workers in the Second Central American Survey of Working Conditions and Health (II ECCTS, 2018).

Identification of Potentially Preventable Traumatic Injury Among Military Working Dogs Deployed During the Global War on Terror.

Background: Prevention of deployment-related injury is critical for readiness of US military working dogs (MWDs). This study evaluated deployment-related injuries to determine if they were potentially preventable and identify possible abatement strategies.

Methods: Data were collected on 195 MWD injury events that occurred between 11 September 2001 and 31 December 2018.

[Precarious employment Measurement in Central America: psychometric properties based on the II Central American Survey of Working Conditions and Health].

Objective: Identify the psychometric properties of a measure of Employment Precariousness (EP) in six Central American Spanish-speaking countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) through the items of the EPRES scale (Employment Precariousness Scale) included in the II Central American Survey of Working Conditions and Health (II ECCTS) of 2018.

Methods: The sample was 3,782 salaried persons, aged 18 and older, formal and informal, who participated in the II ECCTS. An EP measure of 10 items was constructed, grouped in the dimensions of temporality, salary, labor rights, and exercise of these rights.

Chemical explosion, COVID-19, and environmental justice: Insights from low-cost air quality sensors.

Objectives: To examine the impact of the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) fire and COVID-19 on airborne particulate matter (PM) concentrations and the PM disproportionally affecting communities in Houston using low-cost sensors.

Methods: We compared measurements from a network of low-cost sensors with a separate network of monitors from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Houston metropolitan area from Mar 18, 2019, to Dec 31, 2020. Further, we examined the associations between neighborhood-level sociodemographic status and air pollution patterns by linking the low-cost sensor data to EPA environmental justice screening and mapping systems.

Do health professionals' attitudes towards alcohol use matter for alcohol prevention efforts? Results from the WIRUS-OHS study.

Background: Use of alcohol is a major public health issue, representing the 7 largest burden of disease in the world. Workplaces offer a unique arena for health initiatives addressing alcohol use, where occupational health services (OHS) personnel play an important role. However, we do not know if the extent of such initiatives may be influenced by personal drinking attitudes among OHS personnel.

Do Differences in Drinking Attitudes and Alcohol-Related Problems Explain Differences in Sick Leave? A Multilevel Analysis of 95 Work Units Within 14 Companies From the WIRUS Study.

Background: Systematic reviews have shown a strong relationship between alcohol consumption and sick leave. The effect of alcohol consumption on sick leave may, however, vary according to the work environment. While attitudes toward drinking may impact sick leave, there is little research on the contribution of drinking attitudes to sick leave.

Maternal occupational exposure to chemicals and child cognitive function.

Background: Limited data exist regarding child neurodevelopment in relation to maternal occupational exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs).

Methods: We included 1058 mother-child pairs from the INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) project (2003-2008). Using a job-exposure matrix, exposure probability scores for ten EDC groups were assigned to each mother based on her longest held job during pregnancy.

Maternal occupational exposures and fetal growth in a Spanish birth cohort.

While the epidemiologic literature suggests certain maternal occupational exposures may be associated with reduced measures of size at birth, the occupational literature employing fetal biometry data to assess fetal growth is sparse. The present study examines associations between maternal occupational exposures and ultrasound-measured fetal growth. We included 1,739 singleton pregnancies from the INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) project (2003-2008).

Impact of high, low, and non-optimum temperatures on chronic kidney disease in a changing climate, 1990-2019: A global analysis.

Background: Although a few studies have reported the relationship between high and low temperatures and chronic kidney disease (CKD), the global burden of CKD attributable to extreme heat and cold in recent decades remains unknown.

Methods: Based on the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019, we obtained data on age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) and age-standardized rates of disability-adjusted life years (ASDR) per 100 000 population of the CKD attributable to non-optimum temperatures from 1990 to 2019. The annual mean temperature of each country was used to divide each country into five climate zones (tropical, subtropical, warm-temperate, cool-temperate, and boreal).

Occupation and Risk of Traumatic Brain Injury in the Millennium Cohort Study.

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an occupational health hazard of military service. Few studies have examined differences in military occupational categories (MOC) which take into consideration the physical demands and job requirements across occupational groups.

Methods: This study was approved by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Institutional Review Board.

A pilot study of total personal exposure to volatile organic compounds among Hispanic female domestic cleaners.

Cleaners have an elevated risk for the development or exacerbation of asthma and other respiratory conditions, possibly due to exposure to cleaning products containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) leading to inflammation and oxidative stress. This pilot study aimed to quantify total personal exposure to VOCs and to assess biomarkers of inflammation and pulmonary oxidative stress in 15 predominantly Hispanic women working as domestic cleaners in San Antonio, Texas, between November 2019 and July 2020. In partnership with a community organization, Domésticas Unidas, recruited women were invited to attend a training session where they were provided 3M 3500 passive organic vapor monitors (badges) and began a 72-hr sampling period during which they were instructed to wear one badge during the entire period ("AT," for ll the ime), a second badge only while they were inside their home ("INS," for ide), and a third badge only when they were outside their home ("OUT," for side).

Monitoring Self-Perceived Occupational Health Inequities in Central America, 2011 and 2018.

To analyze changes in occupational health inequity between 2011 and 2018 among workers in Central America. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews at the workers' homes for the 2 Central America Working Conditions Surveys (n  = 12 024 in 2011 and n = 9030 in 2018). We estimated health inequity gaps by means of absolute and relative population attributable risks and the weighted Keppel index.