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COVID-19 incidence in a cohort of public transport workers

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. METH...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: De Matteis, Sara, Cancedda, Valerio, Pilia, Ilaria, Cocco, Pierluigi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Mattioli 1885 srl 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9484285/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36006092
http://dx.doi.org/10.23749/mdl.v113i4.13478
Descripción
Sumario: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 in the regional population at the same time frame to the correspondent strata of the study cohort. We estimated the age- and gender-adjusted 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 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 put in place. Additional studies of larger size with detailed information on personal and lifestyle characteristics are warranted.