OCR Text |
Show November 9, 2000 Clean areas thoroughly to help prevent hantavirus droppings, urine or nesting materials. Instead, thoroughly wet contaminated areas with detergent or liquid to deactivate the virus. Most general-purpos- e disinfectants and household deter- by Senior Airman Lisa. R. Padberg Public Health Technician With different weather patterns occurring over the past few years, anything is possible including contracting the hantavirus. Hantavirus is a pulmonary lung infection resulting from exposure to rodent feces, urine or saliva infected with the hantavirus. The name comes from Hantaan, a river in South Korea near where rodents carrying the virus were collected from 1974-78. Scientists tracking the hantavirus have documented cases from Canada to Argentina. In March, Vermont became the 31st state to confirm a case of hantavirus, bringing the latest total number of cases in the United States to over 250 since the virus was identified 20 years ago. Approximately percent of the cases have been fatal. Utah has had 16 documented cases, with the most recent cases in Murray and Price. The Hill AFB Public Health Flight, 40-6- 0 using information was gathered from the Centers for Disease Control Web site, www.cdc.gov, offer these answers to questions about the hantavirus. How is hantavirus transmitted? Some rodents are infected with a type of hantavirus that causes hantavirus pul- monary syndrome or HPS. These rodents ' shed the virus in their urine, droppings and saliva. The virus is mainly transmitted to people when they breathe in air contaminated with the virus. Other ways people ' may get hantavirus include from a rodent bite, or by touching or eating something that has been contaminated by a rodent urine, droppings or saliva. Could you get hantavirus from animals other than rodents, or from insects? What about pets? individuals are recognized early and taken Researchers dont believe that the hantaviruses causing HPS are transmitted by any other types of animals. Dogs and cats dont carry the virus, but they may bring infected rodents into contact with people by catching them and carrying them home. Guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and other such pets dont carry hantavirus. What are the symptoms of HPS? Early symptoms for all patients are fever, fatigue and muscle aches. About half of the patients experience headaches, dizziness, chills and abdominal probN to an intensive care unit, some patients may do better. In intensive care, patients are intubated and given oxygen therapy to help them through the period of severe respiratory distress. The earlier the patient is brought in to intensive care, the better. How do I prevent HPS? Eliminate or minimize contact with rodents. Make your home, workplace or vacation home unattractive to them. If rodents dont find friendly conditions and nesting material easy-to-get-fo- od then youre less likely to come into contact with them. Recent lems. Later symptoms include coughing and shortness of breath. How long could it be between the time you get the virus, and the time you start showing these symptoms? research results show that many people who have become ill with HPS got the disease after having been in frequent contact with rodents or their droppings around a home or a workplace. If you live in an area where the carrier rodents like the deer It may be between one to five weeks after you are exposed to potentially infected rodents and the rodent droppings before you will show any symptoms. How is HPS treated? Presently, there is no specific treatment for the hantavirus infection. If the infected mouse ard known to live, it makes sense to try to keep work and living areas clean. Clean up rodent-infesteareas using safety precautions. Wear latex rubber gloves before cleaning. Dont stir up dust by sweeping up or vacuuming up d gents are effective. However, a hypochlorite solution prepared by mixing three tablespoons of household bleach in one gallon of water may be used in place of commercial disinfectant. Once everything is wet, take up contaminated materials with a damp towel, then mop or sponge the area with disinfectant. Spray dead rodents with disinfectant, then double-ba- g along with all cleaning materials and bury or burn, or throw out in appropriate waste disposal system. If burning or burying isnt feasible, contact your local or state health department about other disposal methods. Disinfect gloves before taking them off with disinfectant or soap and water. After removing the clean gloves, thoroughly wash hands with soap and warm water. When going into cabins or out- buildings (or work areas) that have been closed for a while, open them up and air out before cleaning. What if my house or workplace is heavily infested with rodents? Get help from a professional exterminator if you see lots of droppings or rodents you may have a bad infestation problem. Contact your local health authorities for advice. For more details, contact the Hill AFB Public Health Office at Ext. or the 75th Civil Engi- 67 neering Squadrons Entomology Section, Ext. the Davis County Health or the Weber County Health Department, Department, 451-329- 6, 399-820- 1. OSHA establishing standard for workplace ergonomics by Dianne Ingle, RN Occupational Health Nurse Educator In 1991, The Occupational Safety and Health proposed the implementation of an wide ergonomics standard. In November 1999, OSHA published the Draft Ergonomic Protection Standard and has held hearings through July. A report in occupationalhazards.com says OSHA has all their safety and standards personnel working to publish a final ergonomics standard by the end of this year. Will you be ready when the standard comes out? The OSHA Draft Ergonomic Protection Standard, as reported in the Occupational Safety and Health d Reporter, is'designed to prevent occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders by telling employees about the risk factors that can cause or aggravate them. At Hill AFB, after an employee is shown to have a work-relate- musculoskeletal disorder, Bioenvironmental Engineering evaluates the employees workplace for ergonomic risks and to make recommendations. These recommendations are then sent to the supervisor to make the needed changes. Public Health follows up to see if the employee has been accommodated. If the supervisor doesnt address these recommendations after 30 days, the unit safety representative and the directorate chief or commander is notified. The Hill AFB Ergonomic Program was established in 1991. The Installation Ergonomic Working Group meets quarterly at the Base Safety Office to discuss new ideas and solutions to ergonomic problems. Ergonomic training has been conducted base wide by Public Health and by the Technical Industrial Institute. Employees can be scheduled through the unit training monitor. Public Health also has Worker and Supervisor Ergonomic Guides and information about musculoskeletal disorders at the Occupational Medicine Clinic in Bldg. 249. Organizations are encouraged to form their own Ergo Teams in their work areas to evaluate problems and find solutions. These teams can include workers, supervisors, engineers and tool crib personnel. For a copy of Ergonomic Guides, or more details on ergonomics, contact the Public Health Office at Ext. The OSHA standard encourages the use of new and innovation in ergonomic and identifies design principles that prevent exposure to risk factors. Employers must develop procedures for receiving and responding to employee reports of risk factors or musculoskeletal disorders, the standard says. Employees are to be provided information about mus- culoskeletal disorders. Employers must determine whether any musculoskeletal disorders have occurred in their workplace during the past two years, using records of Workers Compensation data and OSHA 200 logs, or a symptoms survey; and if they have, the employer must further evaluate the jobs. addition, the employer must examine jobs that risk factors to determine the extent to which are present. Jobs that need to be evaluated may require the following during the work shift: Performance of the same motions or motion pattern every few seconds for more than two hours . In at a time. Fixed or awkward work postures for more than a overhead work, twisted or total of two hours bent back, bent wrist, kneeling, stooping or squatting. Uses vibrating or impact tools or equipment for more than a total of two hours. Manual handling of objects weighing more than 25 pounds more than once in each work shift. the work No worker control over work pace for more is mechanically or electronically paced of exclusive regular breaks. than four hours at a time, A risk factor checklist is to be completed for jobs with these requirements. There are two checklists one for the office work environment, and one for all other types of environments. In addition, guidance for evaluating lifting tasks is provided. The checklist results determine whether the employer has to proceed to further evaluation. Where employers find problem jobs those moderate to high risks the standard them to identify the cause of the problems and fix the jobs. If the problem is obvious and it can be fixed in 60 days, the employer need not proceed farther. Jobs with multifactorial problems require a job analysis to ascertain what can be done to fix the job. Employers are to design and implement appropriate control measures using guidance in the standard. Employers must consider ergonomics in the design of the new processes or purchase of equipment and materials. Employees are to be involved in all stages of the employers ergonomic process, including identification, assessment, control and evalua- tion. ; - Training will be required for employees in problem jobs, including ergonomic awareness and how to use control measures properly. Employers will be required to evaluate the effectiveness of their training programs. Training must be provided initially, periodically and every three years. A health care provider must evaluate employees with musculoskeletal disorders, and appropriate treat- ment and follow up provided. Employees must be monitored until they are able to perform work without restrictions. Employees working at video display units more than four hours a day, and who report neck or shoulder musculoskeletal disorders, may be reimbursed for eye examinations and corrective lenses that are different than what the employee needs for activities outside the workplace. . |