Singh Dharmendra, Carr Samit Kumar, Sarkar Bidisa, Ali Syed Irfan, Sarkar Kamalesh
Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-National JALMA Institute for Leprosy and Other Mycobacterial Diseases, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Occupational Safety and Health Association of Jharkhand (OSHAJ), Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2023 Aug;12(8):1654-1658. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2518_22. Epub 2023 Aug 29.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among workers of ramming mass industries in the East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, eastern India. Workers had occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust of varied duration between 1 and 6 years. A total of 122 subjects participated in it. Relevant epidemiological information was collected from them. All were x-rayed using 300 mA radiation for the detection of the presence of silicotic opacities if any as described by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the detection of silicosis.
The study revealed that 61.4% (n = 75) of subjects had silicosis. Of them, 19 had acute silicosis (having a duration of silica dust exposure of 2 years or lesser) and 56 had accelerated silicosis (a duration of occupational exposure of > 2 to 6 years). The offending agent was clouds of respirable crystalline silica dust from the ramming mass industries.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an outbreak of acute and accelerated silicosis cases because of occupational inhalational exposure to ramming mass in India with a sizable portion of female workers with silicosis. Regional as well as national authorities need to take appropriate interventional measures in a programmatic mode as soon as possible.
An in-depth investigation on the existence and magnitude of the problem of silico-tuberculosis is needed to be performed in them as silicosis increases the vulnerability of pulmonary tuberculosis among the affected workers.
在印度东部贾坎德邦东辛格布姆区的捣固料行业工人中开展了一项横断面研究。工人们职业性接触可吸入结晶二氧化硅粉尘的时长在1至6年之间。共有122名受试者参与了该研究。从他们那里收集了相关的流行病学信息。按照国际劳工组织（ILO）检测矽肺病的方法，对所有人使用300毫安的辐射进行了X光检查，以检测是否存在矽肺混浊。
研究显示，61.4%（n = 75）的受试者患有矽肺病。其中，19人患有急性矽肺病（二氧化硅粉尘接触时长为2年或更短），56人患有加速型矽肺病（职业接触时长> 2至6年）。致病因素是捣固料行业产生的可吸入结晶二氧化硅粉尘云。
据我们所知，这是印度首例因职业性吸入捣固料而导致急性和加速型矽肺病爆发的报告，且矽肺病患者中有相当一部分是女性工人。地区及国家当局需要尽快以有计划的方式采取适当的干预措施。
鉴于矽肺病会增加受影响工人患肺结核的易感性，需要对他们进行硅肺结核问题的存在情况及严重程度的深入调查。
