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[Intentional use of harmful biological agents in work processes in Poland based on the National Register of Biological Agents].

Authors :
Kozajda A
Miśkiewicz E
Source :
Medycyna pracy [Med Pr] 2023 Dec 29; Vol. 74 (6), pp. 501-511. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Dec 23.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Background: The work presents the intentional use of harmful biological agents based on National Register of Biological Agents (Krajowego Rejestru Czynników Biologicznych - KRCB) collected by June 2023.<br />Material and Methods: The KRCB is a central database gathering notifications of the intentional use of biological agents in risk groups 2-4 in the workplace in accordance with the regulation of the Minister of Health of December 11, 2020 amending the regulation regarding biological agents.<br />Results: with the regulation of the Minister of Health of December 11, 2020 amending the regulation regarding biological agents. Results: Notifications were sent by 712 enterprises for: diagnostic - 62%, research - 31% and industrial purposes - 7%. Notifications were most often sent by hospital and non-hospital clinical and diagnostic laboratories (33% each group) and higher education and research units - 16%. In total, 7352 workers (88% women, 12% men) were exposed to biological agents intentionally used at work. Biological agents from 2 and 3 group risk were used by 98% and 16% enterprises, respectively. The most frequently were used bacteria Escherichia coli (with the exception of non-pathogenic strains) - 5972 (81%) exposed workers, Staphylococcus aureus - respectively 5760 (78%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa - 5155 (70%). Among the total workers, nearly 25% were exposed to at least 1 biological agent carcinogenic to humans, including viruses (hepatitis B virus [HBV] - 1800 workers, 24%; hepatitis C virus [HCV] - respectively, 1767, 24%; human immunodeficiency virus-1 [HIV-1] - 1557, 21%; human gammaherpesvirus type 4 (Epstein-Barr virus) - 199, 3%; Papillomaviridae - 52, <1%; human gammaherpesvirus type 8 [HHV-8] - 16, <1%; human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 [HTLV- 1] - 38, <1%; bacteria Helicobacter pylori - 299, 4%; parasites Schistosoma haematobium - 9, <1%).<br />Conclusions: Intentionally used biological agents most often pose a threat to workers of hospital and non-hospital clinical and diagnostic laboratories, but a higher health risk concerns workers of and higher education and research units. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2023;74(6):501-11.<br /> (This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.)

Details

Language :
Polish
ISSN :
2353-1339
Volume :
74
Issue :
6
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Medycyna pracy
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
38160423
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.13075/mp.5893.01458