Occupational, Environmental, and Climate Medicine Program

Household SARS-COV-2 contact constitutes a high-risk exposure for health care workers (HCWs). Cycle threshold (Ct) of reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction testing provides an estimate of COVID-19 viral load, which can inform clinical and workplace management. We assessed whether Ct values differed between HCWs with COVID-19 with and without household exposure.

Methods

We analyzed HCW COVID-19 cases whose Ct data could be compared. We defined low Ct at a cut-point approximating a viral load of 4.6 × 10⁶ copies per ml. Logistic regression tested...

Rationale: The Southeast Asian tuberculosis burden is high, and it remains unclear if urban indoor air pollution in this setting is exacerbating the epidemic.

Objectives: To determine the associations of latent tuberculosis with common urban indoor air pollution sources (secondhand smoke, indoor motorcycle emissions, and cooking) in Southeast Asia.

Methods: We enrolled child household contacts of patients with microbiologically confirmed active tuberculosis in Vietnam, from July 2017 to December 2019. We tested children for latent tuberculosis and evaluated air pollution...

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is a relatively new construct, first reported in the early 20th century, despite major aetiological factors (farming, bird husbandry) having been part of human activities for millennia. Initial confirmed HP reports included exposure to farming and forestry (1932) and bird exposure (1965), much more recently than is often assumed. Later changes in occupational and living practices have led to HP associated with isocyanates, machine coolants, indoor mould, hot tubs and other exposures. Evolution of our pathological understanding of interstitial lung disease...

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