Browsing by Author "Sacadura-Leite, Ema"
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- Antibody response to the influenza vaccine in healthcare workersPublication . Sacadura-Leite, Ema; Sousa-Uva, António; Rebelo-de-Andrade, HelenaPeople vaccinated against influenza develop hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibodies (Ab) that bind to the virus and neutralize it. Ab titer levels are variable depending on factors insufficiently studied, and tend to decrease over time. In the present study, we analyzed antibodies responses before and after influenza vaccination in nurses working in a hospital, with the aim of: -identifying seroconversion rates to trivalent influenza vaccine one month after immunization; -evaluating if, six months after vaccination, influenza HAI Ab titer fall comparing to one-month post vaccination HAI Ab titer; -studying the association between the lack of HAI Ab response (seroconversion) assessed one month after immunization and: ∘past influenza vaccinations, ∘baseline (before vaccination) HAI Ab titer, ∘baseline (before vaccination) HAI Ab titer ≥ 40 (considered as a protection titer). Hemagglutination inhibition reaction was used to assess specific HAI Ab titers against influenza A(H1N1), A(H3N2) and B virus strains included in the influenza vaccine and we used progressive dilutions of two times, starting on 1:10 until 1:20.480. Seroconversion rates, one month after vaccination, were 66.7% for A(H1N1) strain, 63.2% for A(H3N2) strain and 56.3% for B strain. The most immunogenic strain used in 2007/08 influenza vaccine was A(H1N1). Seroconversion rates after one month were negatively associated with past influenza vaccinations, baseline HAI Ab titers ≥ 40 and baseline HAI Ab titers. Six months after vaccination, 50% of participants showed a drop in HAI Ab titers to an half, for each of the considered strains, but they remain high enough to protect against the disease.
- Occupational Hazards for Healthcare Workers in HospitalsPublication . Cordeiro, Telma; Sousa-Uva, António; Sacadura-Leite, Ema; Pinhal, Hermínia; Nogueira, AnaBook description by publisher: Despite several improvements in risk assessment and exposure prevention, the occupational environment could expose workers to a wide variety of risk factors. Beside “classical” risk factors, such as chemical compounds, physical agents and biological agents, a group of "new” risk factors has become more and more prevalent over the last few decades; psychosocial hazards in occupational environments and exposure to nanoparticles are flawless examples of these potential issues for workers' health. This book aims to address principal “classical” risk factors by dealing extensively with occupational respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases related to work, occupational cancers, and occupational risks for hypersensitivity. Additionally, it attempts to shed light on a deepened treatise of occupational hazards related to the development of neurodegenerative diseases, psychosocial ailments, and ergonomic risk factors, which could result in cumulative trauma disorders of the upper limb. The second part of this book provides some advice regarding specific risk factors or specific occupational exposures: health issues related to exposure to mechanical vibrations, pesticides, nanomaterials, and in a hospital environment were used as examples to deepen the risk assessment and the analysis of health hazards. The authors hope to paint a global picture of the principal risk factors in occupational medicine. Given these premises, this book is not aimed to be comprehensive, but rather to provide an introductive and robust base for facing several current issues in occupational medicine.