INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN WASTE MANAGEMENT

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INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN WASTE MANAGEMENT

• Tartu
• 10.3.-11.3.2004

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WASTE

• infectious waste from hospitals etc
• sharps waste
• solid community waste
• collecting
• dumping ground
• treatment
• waste-water treatment

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GENERAL ASPECTS

• microbes found depend on the processes
• exposure to a certain microbe in waste-water
  depend on the prevalence of that disease

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INFECTIOUS WASTE

• cultures
• human or animal pathological waste
• contaminated material
• sharps
• free flowing waste

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LIMITING THE HAZARDS OF INFECTIOUS WASTE

• policy
• written
• approved
• based on present knowledge
• guidelines
• written and simple instructions
• training

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SOLID COMMUNITY WASTE

• proper handling of waste (sharps) at home
• good containers, easy to collect
• no-touch handling of the waste
• personal hygiene (smoking, eating, drinking,
  clothing)
• at the dump site preventing the dust
• tetanus vaccination

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WASTE-WATER TREATMENT PLANTS

• waste-water contains many pathogenic microbes,
  which are common in that particular community
• hepatitis A
• hepatitis C
• Salmonella spp
• intestinal parasites
• waste-water treatment plant workers report more
  gastrointestinal tract symptoms than controls

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EPIDEMIOLOGY OF WASTE-WATER TREATMENT PLANT
WORKERS

• waste-water treatment plant workers seem to have
  more hepatitis A
• depends on the task
• they do not experience any increased risk of
  clinical disease

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WASTE-WATER TREATMENT AND SALMONELLA

• Salmonella spp can be found in waste-water
• in our study they waste-water treatment plant
  workers had less antibodies against salmonella
  than blood donors and reported less salmonellosis
  than food processing plant workers
• could salmonella exposure by inhalation prevent
  gastrointestinal salmonellosis?

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WASTE-WATER TREATMENT PLANT GI-SYMPTOMS

• in several studies more gi-symptoms
• habitual stomach pain
• loose or watery stools
• varying bowel habits
• cause is probably some virus
• more among the young workers (?)
• not related to any later disease

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SIMPLE PRINCIPLES FOR WASTE WORK

• avoid cuts
• avoid dust, do not let the waste dry
• use protective proper protective device
• in some cases exclusion of some workers may be
  considered
• immunocompromised
• workers with asthma
• workers with allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis
• dermatitis
• remember tetanus vaccination