Infectious Diseases

Our plain-English summary of Infectious Diseases, by A. Seaton (1975).

The study

• Author: A. Seaton
• Published: OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISEASES (W.K.C. MORGAN AND A. SEATON, EDITORS), PHILADELPHIA: W.B. SAUNDERS, PP. 346-356 (1975)
• Type of article: Book excerpt
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library.

In plain English

This textbook chapter by Anthony Seaton was a brief review of occupational infectious diseases affecting the lungs. It reported no new research of its own. Instead it described findings from earlier studies and clinical experience. The chapter does not mention asbestos. It covered tuberculosis in health and laboratory workers, bar workers and workers with silicosis. It also covered opportunist (atypical) mycobacterial infections, Q fever, anthrax (including inhalational anthrax, or wool sorter's disease), hydatid disease, glanders, melioidosis, brucellosis, histoplasmosis, leptospirosis, pneumonic plague and smallpox handler's lung. Citing a survey of United States metal miners from 1958 to 1961, the chapter reported X-ray signs of old or active tuberculosis in 5.3 per cent of miners with silicosis and 0.6 per cent of miners without it. It also cited British data showing that almost half of 89 people with avian-Battey mycobacterial infection worked in coal mining or other dusty jobs. The author opened by stating that infection is generally not an important cause of occupational disease, though some jobs increase the chance of catching certain diseases.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Review (textbook chapter); no original study
• Who was studied: Occupational groups described from other sources: physicians, nurses, veterinary surgeons, laboratory workers, farmers, bar workers, and workers in silica-exposed and other dusty occupations (metal miners, slate workers, coal miners), among others
• Exposure: Infectious organisms met at work (mycobacteria, Coxiella burnetii, Bacillus anthracis and others), and dusty occupations such as silica and coal work that may make workers more prone to infection; asbestos is not discussed
• Main results:
  • Citing the 1958 to 1961 survey of United States metal miners: X-ray signs of old or active tuberculosis were found in 5.3 per cent of silicotics (miners with silicosis), compared with 0.6 per cent of nonsilicotics
  • Citing British data: of 89 people with infection by the avian-Battey group of mycobacteria, almost half worked in coal mining or other dusty occupations
  • Citing earlier studies: tuberculosis in people with silicosis or coal worker's pneumoconiosis appeared to respond as well, or almost as well, to standard drug treatment as tuberculosis alone
  • Citing an earlier trial: treating massive fibrosis with antituberculous drugs was reported to have no effect on the disease
• The authors' conclusion: The author stated that, in general, infection is not an important cause of occupational disease, but that certain occupations increase the chance of catching certain diseases

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Silicosis, Occupational Disease.

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