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Comparison of COVID-19 Health Risks With Other Viral Occupational Hazards

The European Commission periodically classifies viruses on their occupational hazards to define the level of protection that workers are entitled to claim. Viruses belonging to Groups 3 and 4 can cause severe human disease and hazard to workers, as well as a spreading risk to the community. However,...

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Autor principal: Unger, Jean-Pierre
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7424620/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32772627
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0020731420946590
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author Unger, Jean-Pierre
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description The European Commission periodically classifies viruses on their occupational hazards to define the level of protection that workers are entitled to claim. Viruses belonging to Groups 3 and 4 can cause severe human disease and hazard to workers, as well as a spreading risk to the community. However, there is no effective prophylaxis or treatment available for Group 4 viruses. European trade unions and the Commission are negotiating the classification of the COVID-19 virus along these 2 categories. This article weighs the reasons to classify it in Group 3 or 4 while comparing its risks to those of the most significant viruses classified in these 2 categories. COVID-19 characteristics justify its classification in Group 4. Contaminated workers in contact with the public play an important role in disseminating the virus. In hospitals and nursing homes, they increase the overall case fatality rate. By strongly protecting these workers and professionals, the European Union would not only improve health in work environments, but also activate a mechanism key to reducing the COVID-19 burden in the general population. Admittedly, the availability of a new vaccine or treatment would change this conclusion, which was reached in the middle of the first pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-74246202020-08-13 Comparison of COVID-19 Health Risks With Other Viral Occupational Hazards Unger, Jean-Pierre Int J Health Serv IV. The Social Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic as an Occupational Hazard The European Commission periodically classifies viruses on their occupational hazards to define the level of protection that workers are entitled to claim. Viruses belonging to Groups 3 and 4 can cause severe human disease and hazard to workers, as well as a spreading risk to the community. However, there is no effective prophylaxis or treatment available for Group 4 viruses. European trade unions and the Commission are negotiating the classification of the COVID-19 virus along these 2 categories. This article weighs the reasons to classify it in Group 3 or 4 while comparing its risks to those of the most significant viruses classified in these 2 categories. COVID-19 characteristics justify its classification in Group 4. Contaminated workers in contact with the public play an important role in disseminating the virus. In hospitals and nursing homes, they increase the overall case fatality rate. By strongly protecting these workers and professionals, the European Union would not only improve health in work environments, but also activate a mechanism key to reducing the COVID-19 burden in the general population. Admittedly, the availability of a new vaccine or treatment would change this conclusion, which was reached in the middle of the first pandemic. SAGE Publications 2020-08-09 2021-01 /pmc/articles/PMC7424620/ /pubmed/32772627 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0020731420946590 Text en © The Author(s) 2020 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
spellingShingle IV. The Social Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic as an Occupational Hazard
Unger, Jean-Pierre
Comparison of COVID-19 Health Risks With Other Viral Occupational Hazards
title Comparison of COVID-19 Health Risks With Other Viral Occupational Hazards
title_full Comparison of COVID-19 Health Risks With Other Viral Occupational Hazards
title_fullStr Comparison of COVID-19 Health Risks With Other Viral Occupational Hazards
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of COVID-19 Health Risks With Other Viral Occupational Hazards
title_short Comparison of COVID-19 Health Risks With Other Viral Occupational Hazards
title_sort comparison of covid-19 health risks with other viral occupational hazards
topic IV. The Social Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic as an Occupational Hazard
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7424620/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32772627
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0020731420946590
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