Hepatitis A Virus Infection and the Waste Handling Industry: A Seroprevalence Study

George Rachiotis, Dimitrios Papagiannis, Efthimios Thanasias, George Dounias and Christos Hadjichristodoulou
Additional contact information
George Rachiotis: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Thessaly, Larissa 41222, Greece
Dimitrios Papagiannis: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Thessaly, Larissa 41222, Greece
Efthimios Thanasias: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Thessaly, Larissa 41222, Greece
George Dounias: Department of Occupational and Industrial Hygiene, National School of Public Health, Athens 115-21, Greece
Christos Hadjichristodoulou: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Thessaly, Larissa 41222, Greece

IJERPH, 2012, vol. 9, issue 12, 1-6

Abstract: Waste collectors have a theoretical risk of Hepatitis A virus infection. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis A virus infection (HAV) among municipal solid waste workers (MSWWs) in a municipality of central Greece. A seroprevalence study of HAV was conducted among 208 employees (100 waste collectors and 108 municipal gardeners) of a municipality in central Greece. Total antibodies against HAV were measured and information regarding potential risk factors was collected through a face to face interview. The prevalence of HAV infection among the municipal waste collectors was 61% vs . 27% among municipal gardeners. Logistic regression analysis showed that exposure to waste (OR = 2.87; 95% CI = 1.24–6.62) and age (OR = 22.57; 95% CI = 7.29–69.88) were independently associated with the anti-HAV positivity. Moreover, waste collectors who reported smoking/drinking/eating during waste collection were at higher risk of HAV infection (RR = 2.84; 95% CI = 1.73–4.63). Stratified analysis among municipal waste collectors indicated an independent association between eating/smoking/ drinking during waste collection and anti-HAV (+) (OR = 3.85; 95% CI = 1.34–11.06). Occupational exposure to waste is a potential risk factor for HAV infection. Smoking/eating/drinking during waste collection could be the mode of hepatitis A virus transmission among municipal waste collectors.

Keywords: hepatitis A infection; municipal solid waste workers; occupational exposure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/12/4498/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/12/4498/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:9:y:2012:i:12:p:4498-4503:d:22045

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().