Issue:
Influenza is a common illness that affects 2-25% of healthy adults each year, causing thousands of deaths and hospitalizations in Canada. This research study is designed to determine the incidence of influenza infection over a 3-year period in two groups of healthy adults: those working in health care and those working in other jobs. This will allow researchers to determine whether working in health care is a risk for influenza infection.
The researchers are also using this study to determine what factors are associated with higher risks of influenza infection. It is likely that close contact with patients with influenza increases their risk of contracting the illness. However, whether care givers contract influenza may vary according to the type of care they provide, the area of the hospital they work in, or the types of medical procedures they perform. Determining which exposures are most likely to be associated with influenza will help researchers inform front line workers and hospitals about how to better protect patients, families, and workers from influenza.
Objectives:
The objective of this study is to determine if health care workers (HCW) are at increased risk for illness due to influenza relative to other working adults, and to identify whether our current paradigm for exposure risk in acute care hospitals is accurate. Specifically, the primary hypotheses are: 1)
hospital-based HCWs are more likely to develop influenza than other working healthy adults; and 2) within a cohort of hospital-based HCWs, those who care for patients with acute respiratory infections, those who work in high risk areas (emergency departments, intensive care units, and adult/paediatric medical inpatient units), and those who routinely perform procedures in which aerosols are generated are more likely to develop influenza than those working in other areas.
Anticipated Results:
Primary outcomes: 1) the incidence of symptomatic influenza in HCW and office-based working adults; and 2) workplace exposure risks (working with patients with respiratory symptoms/infections, working in high risk area, performing aerosol generating medical procedures) for influenza in HCW.
Secondary outcomes: 1) patterns of work attendance during influenza and other ARI; 2) community risk factors for influenza; 3) factors associated with attendance at work while ill with influenza or other ARI; 4) number of work days lost due to influenza, and 5) influenza vaccine effectiveness. An exploratory analysis of workplace risk factors other than exposure risk for acute care hospital workers will also be conducted.
Investigators:
Allison J. McGeer, Brenda L. Coleman, Bjug Borgundvaag, Karen Green, Donald E. Low, Christine Moore, Leslie Vincent (Mount Sinai Hospital), Steven Drews (University of Calgary), Leon Genesove (Ontario Ministry of Labour), D Linn Holness, Matthew P. Muller (St. Michael Hospital), Kevin C. Katz (North York General Hospital), Jeffrey C. Kwong (Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences [ICES]), Joanne Langley (Canadian Center for Vaccinology, IWK Health Centre and Dalhousie University), Mark B. Loeb (McMaster University), Shelly A. McNeil (QEII Health Sciences Centre), Kathryn A. Nichol (Health and Safety Association for Government Services), Janet M. Raboud (University Health Network), Andrew Simor (Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre), John D. Oudyk (OHCOW)
