Feces (poop) from people or animals is an important source of germs like Salmonella, E. coli O157, and norovirus that cause diarrhea, and it can spread some respiratory infections like adenovirus and hand-foot-mouth disease.
The first line of defense is yourself. At your workplace, you're careful not to touch, or at least wash your hands every time you touch, one of dirty spots in your workplace. But what about the things you don't have any control of?
In the food service business, gloves are good at spreading pathogens. Take Chipotle, for example. It turns out that the company requires all employees wear gloves while working. And that means that the employee (or employees) who contributed to the norovirus outbreak must have been wearing gloves while they were preparing food.
Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of microbes on them in most situations. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Food allergies are a growing public health issue. About 15 million Americans have food allergies; one in 13 children and one in 25 adults.
In some cases, symptoms from ingesting allergens can be severe enough to require medical treatment. Food allergic reactions are responsible for about 30,000 emergency room visits and 150-200 deaths a year.
Although the pharmaceutical industry contends that direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising is educational and motivating, a new analysis reported on in the Annals of Family Medicine finds that the educational value of those TV ads has decreased since 2007.
Startling new research findings contradict conventional wisdom about opioids – and may help guide the design of pain relievers that do not produce addiction or other adverse effects produced by morphine and other opioid medicines.
Think that hearing damage is usually workplace-related? Actually, activities away from work can damage hearing just as much a noisy job. More than half of all adults with hearing damage do not have noisy jobs.
Hearing loss is the third most common chronic health condition in the United States. Almost twice as many people report hearing loss as report diabetes or cancer, with about 40 million adults aged 20–69 years suffering from noise-induced hearing loss.
OSHA releases its spring regulatory agenda, more tobacco warnings rolled out and the effects of climate change on health were among the top safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
Farmers in California, the nation’s top agricultural state, are applying near-record levels of pesticides despite the rising popularity of organic produce and concerns about the health of farmworkers and rural schoolchildren.
The latest figures, released in April by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and covering 2016, show that 209 million pounds of pesticide active ingredients were used in agriculture.