Occupational malaria and health risk among select occupational health care employee groups in an urban hospital at Tirupati, A.P.

Epidemiological studies on occupational environments are very meagre in the developing countries like India. For this reason an attempt was made in the present investigation to see the occupational risk of malaria among health care workers of Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia Government General Hospital (SVRRGGH), Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. The cohort studies revealed association between exposure to occupational (hospital) environment and malaria among hospital staff. Retrospective cohort studies were made. 1,454 subjects namely hospital staff exposed to occupational environment included civil assistant surgeons and physicians, the students of medicine, the students of nursing, permanent nursing staff and the class IV employees (class IV included janitorial, male nursing orderlies, female nursing orderlies, attenders, laundry workers and the rest). Retrospective epidemiological studies were carried out for four years on the cohorts and the hospital staff. The data showed statistically significant relative risk and attributable risk for malaria. Physicians and civil assistant surgeons showed no incidence of malaria. The relative risk for malaria in the class IV employees was 1.27, 0, 5.8 and 2.9 for the years 1995-98. The students of nursing showed 4.2, 2.42, 3.3 and 0 relative risk for malaria, whereas the students of medicine showed 2, 2, 2 and 1.6 for the years 1995 to 1998. The attributable risk was ranged from 21.76-82.70, 58.75-76.17, 50-80 for the class IV employees, the students of nursing and the students of medicine retrospectively. These results provide an evidence for an association between occupational environment and malaria for the hospital staff and is more prevalent among certain groups of the hospital staff.