Cement dust exposure and Pulmonary function tests in construction site workers

Background: Construction site workers are frequently exposed to and inhale dust and cement particles that cause a variety of respiratory disorders and impaired lung function tests. These particles once inhaled, lodge in the respiratory tract and even gain entry into the lung tissue depending on the size of the particle. These particles produce a series of inflammatory reactions in the mucus membrane causing severe symptoms. Lung function tests are performed to detect any change in the parameters. Objective: The present study was undertaken to see the degree of decline of lung function tests among workers at construction sites and compare with those working in cleaner environments. Materials and Methods: 160 individuals were inducted into the study of which 60 were construction site workers and 100 were normal healthy individuals working in cleaner environments. Lung function tests using Spiro Win Spirometer was formed to detect any change in lung function parameters. Forced vital capacity, Forced expiratory volume in one sec and maximum voluntary ventilation were assessed using spirometer. Results: The BMI of construction site workers was less when compared to the subjects working in cleaner environments. Performance on Pulmonary function tests was poor in construction site workers compared to healthy controls. When age, sex and BMI were adjusted for the 2 groups, workers group shows a decrease in lung function tests though not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Inhaled dust particles cause reactions in mucus membrane, blocking the respiratory tracts leading to poor performance on lung function tests. Conclusion: Construction site workers should undergo pulmonary function tests from time to time to detect any changes so as to provide early treatment interventions

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN