Expanding the Focus of Occupational Safety and Health: Lessons From a Series of Linked Scientific Meetings

There is widespread recognition that the world of work is changing, and agreement is growing that the occupational safety and health (OSH) field must change to contribute to the protection of workers now and in the future. Discourse on the evolution of OSH has been active for many decades, but formalized support of an expanded focus for OSH has greatly increased over the past 20 years. Development of approaches such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)\u27s total Worker Healt

Is Self-Rated Health Associated with Blood Immune Markers in Healthy Individuals?

Background: Although self-rated health (SRH) has been established as a robust predictor of morbidity and mortality, the immunological mechanisms underpinning this relationship are poorly understood. Purpose: This study examined the association of SRH with humoral and cellular immune markers in healthy individuals who reported no physical illnesses. Method: A total of 116 healthy Japanese white-collar employees (79 women and 37 men) at a pharmaceutical company, aged 23-62 (mean 32) years, underwent a blood draw for the measurement of circulating immune (T, B, and natural killer (NK)) cells, inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α)), and plasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) and completed a health survey including SRH. The question regarding SRH ranged from 'very good (coded 1)' to 'very poor (coded 5).' Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was carried out to calculate the relationship between SRH and immune markers. Results: In this sample, poor SRH was positively correlated with B (CD19+) cell numbers (β=.260, p<.05) and IgG levels (β=.335, p<.01), even after adjusting for depressive symptoms, age, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, body mass index, sex, and sex × SRH interaction. The interaction between SRH and sex on the immune markers was not significant. Conclusion: Although the connection between SRH and immune markers was not strong in this context, the results suggest that poor SRH may be associated with reduced humoral immune system capacity to respond to new/latent challenges. The results provide some support for the immunological basis of SRH in healthier individuals

Risking one's life to save one's livelihood : Precarious work, presenteeism, and worry about disease exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic

The present study advances research on the negative consequences of precarious work experiences (PWE), which include perceptions of threats to one’s job and financial security as well as a sense of powerlessness and inability to exercise rights in the workplace. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop, we examine how PWE relate to sickness presenteeism and worry about work-related COVID-19 exposure. In a 12-week, four-wave study of workers working fully in-person, perceptions of powerlessness and job insecurity were associated with presenteeism (e.g., general presenteeism as well as attending work with known or possible COVID-19 infection) and concerns about disease exposure at work. Whereas powerlessness primarily operated at the between-person level of analysis, job insecurity’s effects emerged at both levels of analysis. A sense of powerlessness at work also predicted sending children to school/daycare sick. In sum, the findings suggest that precarity related to being able to keep one’s job and a sense of powerlessness at work contribute to concerns about the risk of COVID-19 exposure at work and, simultaneously, behaviors that may contribute to the health risks faced by others. This research provides added support to the argument that precarious work should be addressed in order to improve both worker well-being and public health

The genotypic spectrum of ALDH7A1 mutations resulting in pyridoxine dependent epilepsy: a common epileptic encephalopathy

Pyridoxine dependent epilepsy (PDE) is a treatable epileptic encephalopathy characterized by a positive response to pharmacologic doses of pyridoxine. Despite seizure control, at least 75% of individuals have intellectual disability and developmental delay. Current treatment paradigms have resulted in improved cognitive outcomes emphasizing the importance of an early diagnosis. As genetic testing is increasingly accepted as first tier testing for epileptic encephalopathies, we aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of ALDH7A1 mutations that cause PDE. The genotypes, ethnic origin, and reported gender was collected from 185 subjects with a diagnosis of PDE. The population frequency for the variants in this report and the existing literature were reviewed in the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD). Novel variants identified in population databases were also evaluated through in silico prediction software and select variants were over-expressed in an E.coli-based expression system to measure α-aminoadipic semialdehyde dehydrogenase activity and production of α-aminoadipic acid. This study adds 47 novel variants to the literature resulting in a total of 165 reported pathogenic variants. Based on this report, in silico predictions, and general population data, we estimate an incidence of approximately 1:64,352 live births. This report provides a comprehensive overview of known ALDH7A1 mutations that cause PDE, and suggests that PDE may be more common than initially estimated. Due to the relative high frequency of the disease, the likelihood of under-diagnosis given the wide clinical spectrum and limited awareness among clinicians as well as the cognitive improvement noted with early treatment, newborn screening for PDE may be warranted