Sara De Matteis1, Valerio Cencedda1, Ilaria Pilia1, Pierluigi Cocco2. 1. . pierluigi.cocco@manchester.ac.uk. 2. Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Medicina Clinica e Molecolare, Università di Cagliari. pierluigi.cocco@manchester.ac.uk.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown an excess risk of COVID-19 among several occupations, but data on public transport workers are scarce. To investigate the occupational risk posed by contact with the public, we followed up the incidence of COVID-19 in a cohort of public transport workers. METHODS: We identified the incident cases of COVID-19 between 1 September 2020 - 6 May 2021 in a cohort of 2,052 employees of a public transport agency in Sardinia, Italy. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was based on a positive molecular test. To calculate the expected events, we applied the age- and gender-specific incidence rates of the regional population in the same time period to the correspondent strata of the study cohort. We estimated the relative risk (RR) of COVID-19 as the ratio between the observed and the expected events and its 95% confidence interval (95% C.I.) among the total cohort and in two sub-cohorts: bus drivers, and the rest of the personnel (administrative staff, train and metro drivers, workers in the mechanical shop, and in the railroad maintenance, and security). RESULTS: Bus drivers run an elevated risk of COVID-19 (RR = 1.4, 95% C.I. 1.07 - 1.79). There was no excess risk among the sub-cohort including the rest of the personnel. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests an excess risk of COVID-19 among bus drivers even in a relatively low incidence area, which could imply inadequacy of the preventive measures in place. Further, larger size studies with detailed information on personal and lifestyle characteristics are warranted.
BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown an excess risk of COVID-19 among several occupations, but data on public transport workers are scarce. To investigate the occupational risk posed by contact with the public, we followed up the incidence of COVID-19 in a cohort of public transport workers. METHODS: We identified the incident cases of COVID-19 between 1 September 2020 - 6 May 2021 in a cohort of 2,052 employees of a public transport agency in Sardinia, Italy. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was based on a positive molecular test. To calculate the expected events, we applied the age- and gender-specific incidence rates of the regional population in the same time period to the correspondent strata of the study cohort. We estimated the relative risk (RR) of COVID-19 as the ratio between the observed and the expected events and its 95% confidence interval (95% C.I.) among the total cohort and in two sub-cohorts: bus drivers, and the rest of the personnel (administrative staff, train and metro drivers, workers in the mechanical shop, and in the railroad maintenance, and security). RESULTS: Bus drivers run an elevated risk of COVID-19 (RR = 1.4, 95% C.I. 1.07 - 1.79). There was no excess risk among the sub-cohort including the rest of the personnel. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests an excess risk of COVID-19 among bus drivers even in a relatively low incidence area, which could imply inadequacy of the preventive measures in place. Further, larger size studies with detailed information on personal and lifestyle characteristics are warranted.
Authors: Miriam Mutambudzi; Claire Niedwiedz; Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi; Evangelia Demou; Ewan Beaton Macdonald; Alastair Leyland; Frances Mair; Jana Anderson; Carlos Celis-Morales; John Cleland; John Forbes; Jason Gill; Claire Hastie; Frederick Ho; Bhautesh Jani; Daniel F Mackay; Barbara Nicholl; Catherine O'Donnell; Naveed Sattar; Paul Welsh; Jill P Pell Journal: Occup Environ Med Date: 2020-12-09 Impact factor: 4.948
Authors: Sarah Rhodes; Jack Wilkinson; Neil Pearce; William Mueller; Mark Cherrie; Katie Stocking; Matthew Gittins; Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi; Martie Van Tongeren Journal: J Epidemiol Community Health Date: 2022-07-11 Impact factor: 6.286
Authors: Donghai Liang; Liuhua Shi; Jingxuan Zhao; Pengfei Liu; Jeremy A Sarnat; Song Gao; Joel Schwartz; Yang Liu; Stefanie T Ebelt; Noah Scovronick; Howard H Chang Journal: Innovation (Camb) Date: 2020-09-21