Medical Laboratory Workers Research Articles

PETER L. TWOHIG. Labour in the Laboratory: Medical Laboratory Workers in the Maritimes, 1900-1950. (Studies in the History of Medicine, Health, and Society, number 23.) Ithaca, N.Y.: McGill-Queen's University Press. 2005. Pp. xvi, 241. $70.00

This short book (166 pages of actual text) expands the medical gaze to include laboratory workers in the first half of the twentieth century. Focusing on the Maritimes, in particular the Pathological Institute in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Bureau of Laboratories in Saint John, New Brunswick, but including labs in the rest of Canada, Peter L. Twohig has written a readable and fascinating study examining what was largely a female work force. In addition to the introductory essay, there are five chapters, the first two tracing the development of the laboratories, followed by three focusing specifically on the workers: who they were; the work they did; and how they were recruited, their workplace mobility, and the wages paid. The gendered aspects of the workers and their responsibilities are seen in the division between hospital lab technicians, mostly female, and university medical science lab technicians, almost all male. The situation of the women is familiar. If unmarried and living with family, a worker's wage reflected the assumption that she did not “need” money in order to live; if she lost that familial connection, wages increased but only to insure that she would stay at her job. More fascinating are the male laboratory workers at Dalhousie University who suffered a similar fate but for different reasons. University officials simply could not see the jobs that young men did in the labs as a career. Men were expected to leave when they married and find a more fitting, better-paying job. Rather than pay married men a family wage and thus keep them as workers, University officials were willing to go through the expense of training replacements. Notions of what a married man's work should be preempted financial efficiency.

Book Notes

Leslie A. Clarkson and E. Margaret Crawford, eds. Famine and Disease in Ireland. 5 vols. Vol. 1: General Introduction; William Robert Wills Wilde, The Census of Ireland for the Year 1851, part V: Tables of Deaths (1856). Vol. 2: Charles E. Trevelyan, The Irish Crisis (1848); The Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science (1849) (excerpts). Vol. 3: Francis Barker and John Cheyne, An Account of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of the Fever lately Epidemical in Ireland (2 vols., 1821), vol. 1. Vol. 4: Francis Barker and John Cheyne, An Account of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of the Fever lately Epidemical in Ireland (2 vols., 1821), vol. 2. Vol. 5: [Jonathan Swift], A Short View of the State of Ireland (1727–28); John Rutty, A Chronological History of the Weather and Seasons, and of the Prevailing Diseases in Dublin (1770); William Harty, An Historic Sketch of the Causes, Progress, Extent, and Mortality of the Contagious Fever Epidemic in Ireland during the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819 (1920) (excerpt); index. London: Pickering and Chatto, 2005. Vol. 1: xxxii + 555 pp. (facsimiles); Vol. 2: viii + 330 pp. (facsimiles); Vol. 3: viii + 531 pp. (facsimiles); Vol. 4: 387 pp. (facsimiles); Vol. 5: ix + 517 pp. (facsimiles). Set: $750.00 (1-85196-791-5). The facsimiles in this collection lead up to and include the Great Famine in Ireland in the years 1845–49, but the editors emphasize the documents' relevance to the contemporary world: "Although famine was largely in retreat from the western parts of Europe by the early nineteenth century, it lingered in the east for decades thereafter. In Asia and Africa it still occurs with tragic consequences. The experiences in these regions display at least some of the features evident in Ireland up to the mid-nineteenth century" (1: xiii). The editors conclude that "the social structure of Ireland made the community vulnerable to famine whenever events—weather, warfare, plant disease—conspired to destroy food supplies. Whenever governments responded to the social dislocation caused by famine and disease, the range of actions they adopted was not unlike those seen today" (1: xxix). Volume 1 begins with the editors' preface; it and the other volumes contain the facsimiles themselves, with chronologies of the authors' lives and works, bibliographies, and notes. The Editors Andrew Marshall and Judith Marshall. Striving for the Comfort Zone: A Perspective on Julius Jeffreys. Dallas, Tex.: Windy Knoll Publications, 2004. xiii + 177 pp. Ill. $29.95 (0-9754695-0-9). Julius Jeffreys (1800–1877) was a physician, an anatomist, a businessman, a traveler. His main professional interest was in improving the climate for individuals. His work ranged from major efforts to improve conditions for "recuperating soldiers [End Page 400] in the Indian Army" (p. xi) to "encouraging friends and relatives to move to unpolluted regions of the world" (p. xi). This biography mixes the personal and the professional. Chapters move chronologically from Jeffreys's background (ancestors, parents, siblings) to his work in India; his first marriage; his development of the respirator (which, according to the authors, was a word coined by Jeffreys himself, to identify a device for warming inhaled breath [p. xii]); his book Views upon the Statics of the Human Chest, published in 1843; his second marriage; his work with the British Army in India; his semiretirement; and his legacy. Although the biography is not framed by any contextual discussion of Jeffreys and his work, it brings to view a then-notable figure in nineteenth-century British medicine and science. The Editors Peter L. Twohig. Labour in the Laboratory: Medical Laboratory Workers in the Maritimes, 1900–1950. McGill-Queen's Associated Medical Services (Hannah Institute) Studies in the History of Medicine, no. 23. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005. xxi + 241 pp. Ill. $70.00 (0-7735-2861-X). "Few historians of the Atlantic region have turned their attention to the history of health despite a flourishing regional scholarship," writes the author of this book, which intends to put health-care...

Olfactory sensitivity in medical laboratory workers occupationally exposed to organic solvent mixtures

Published epidemiological information relating the effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents (OS) to olfaction is limited. The objectives of this pilot study were to measure the chemosensory abilities of medical laboratory employees occupationally exposed to OS mixtures, to compare these with control workers employed within the same occupational setting and to correlate chemosensory performance with OS exposure history and with employees' hedonic (pleasantness) perceptions about workplace OS odors. Twenty-four medical laboratory employees (OS-exposed technicians plus control workers minimally exposed to OS) completed a health-related questionnaire, a test of pyridine odor detection threshold, along with a gustatory detection threshold test involving aqueous quinine solutions. Estimates of cumulative hours of OS exposure (CSI) were calculated from self-reports. OS-exposed laboratory technicians detected weaker concentrations of pyridine odor. Positive correlations were detected between CSI estimates to both pyridine detection and the degree that participants reported that OS odors were present in the workplace. However, no association was detected between pyridine detection and how unpleasant workplace OS odors were perceived. The OS-exposed participants were able to detect weaker concentrations of quinine. Compared to controls, OS-exposed workers complained more of experiencing several symptoms while working, including headaches, nasal irritation and mild cognitive impairment. The results of this cross-sectional pilot study indicated that, compared to controls, medical laboratory technicians exposed to low-level OS mixtures displayed evidence of elevated olfactory sensitivity (hyperosmia) to pyridine odor. The relation of this study's results to chemical intolerance warrants further investigation.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome and human immunodeficiency virus: Taiwanese medical laboratory technologists and students’ attitudes, concerns and knowledge

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome and human immunodeficiency virus: Taiwanese medical laboratory technologists and students’ attitudes, concerns and knowledge

Viability of mycobacteria in formalin-fixed lungs

It is generally accepted that the risk of contracting tuberculosis is relatively high among medical laboratory workers and pathologists. Nevertheless, there is an assumption that once tissue is fixed in formalin, the risk for transmission and subsequent infection of mycobacteria is greatly reduced, if not altogether eliminated. To test the viability of potentially infectious mycobacteria in formalin-fixed tissue, tissue specimens from autopsy lungs fixed in formalin were cultured for mycobacteria. Of 138 cases with histologic evidence of acid-fast bacilli, 12 grew mycobacteria, including 3 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, suggesting that there is a risk of contracting tuberculosis from tissue that has been fixed in formalin, if aerosolization or accidental inoculation should occur.

Hepatitis B Antigenaemia (HbS Ag): Risk Of Occupational Exposure In A Chemical Patholgy Laboratory In Nigeria

The prevalence of Hepatitis B. surface Antigen (Hbs Ag) is high in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria inclusive. We set out to assess the risk of occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus (HIV) infection in medical laboratory workers in Nigeria by screening 200 consecutive serum samples processed over a two week period at the Chemical Pathology laboratory of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The Accustep Hbs Ag.Rapid Kit USA was used. Twenty nine (14.5%) of all the samples screened tested positive. For the adults, the serpositivity rate was 15.3% while it the 12.5% for children / adult. The implications of these findings are discussed, especially with regards, to the risk of occupational exposure of laboratory and health workers. The provision of appropriate laboratory safety measures and regulations, and compliance with these are emphasized, especially in this environment KEY WORDS: Hepatitis B virus, risk occupation exposure, laboratory workers, Nigeria Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol.6(2) 2003: 99-101

Sensitisation to Aspergillus Fumigatus and Penicillium Notatum in Laboratory Workers

Four workers in medical research laboratories, located in a basement level of a University facility equipped with a humidified air conditioning system, complained of cough and/or asthma and/or rhinitis during their normal working activities. Since exposure to toxic compounds was very low (similar to that of the outdoor environment) only microbiological monitoring was performed. Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium notatum were found in some laboratories. Eight laboratory workers (including the 4 symptomatic subjects) out of 26 investigated were found to be atopic. Specific IgE sensitisation to Aspergillus fumigatus was found in the 8 atopic and in the 6 non-atopic workers, while Penicililum notatum was found in 7 atopic and 4 non-atopic subjects. History, physical examination and laboratory data excluded the presence of aspergillosis or allergic bronchial aspergillosis in the sensitised subjects. Our results suggest that evaluation of immune parameters, along with monitoring of the working environment, may reduce the risk of sensitisation and/or allergic symptoms in atopic laboratory workers.

Ecology and Genetics of Host-Parasite Interactions

In the preface the authors state:The purpose of this book is to outline important aspects of parasitic diseases, with emphasis on the biology and transmission of the parasites concerned, on laboratory and clinical diagnosis, and on therapy. Attention is also drawn to those medical conditions that are likely to affect people from the tropics arriving in temperate areas. It is hoped that the book will help medical practitioners, laboratory workers, and students to understand and diagnose parasitic infections, and assist the first group in treating patients with these infections.The book is divided into three major sections as follows: Part I, Protozoal Infections (Intestinal Protozoa, Sporozoa, Trypanosomes, Leishmania); Part II, Helminthic Infections (Tapeworms, Flukes, Roundworms); Part III, Laboratory Diagnostic Techniques (Examination of Blood, Examination of Feces, Examination of Other Specimens, and Immunodiagnosis of Parasitic Infections).For each organism covered, emphasis has been placed on medical aspects, such as pathology, immunity and host resistance, clinical picture, clinical diagnosis and treatment; these areas are covered particularly well.

Remote Delivery of Instruction in Complex Skills

This study sought to discourse whether an experimental methodology could provide instruction in identification and quantitation tasks which were categorized as intellectual skills with some motor skill components. Hypotheses were derived from the thesis that remotely located students would perform at a level equal to or higher than conventionally trained counterparts. Subjects participating in the study were medical laboratory workers from four states. A remote delivery instructional methodology was compared with conventional instruction. Conventional instruction and the experimental methodology essentially differed only in that in the experimental methodology subjects were remotely located from instructors. Terminal Learning Objective tests were scored on a pass/fail basis. A Chi-square one sample test yielded a value below that required for statistical significance. There was no evidence to suggest that failures signified anything other than random processes or other sources of variation not inherent in administration of instruction. The conclusion reached is that the experimental treatment is no different in effect than the control group treatment. A discussion of potential cost savings using teleconferencing is presented.

A rapid immunoperoxidase assay for determination of IgG antibodies to measles virus

A new indirect peroxidase antibody to membrane antigen (IPAMA) technique for the detection of IgG specific antibodies against measles virus is described. The technique utilizes as antigen measles-infected Vero cells dried on glass slides and stored at −70°C. Sera of 50 healthy medical students and laboratory workers and 24 sera of measles, encephalitis, and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) patients were checked by IPAMA and the results have been compared with the results obtained by the hemaglutination-inhibition (HI) test. There is good agreement between the results of both techniques as to the presence or absence of antibody in 48 out of the 50 tested. The advantages of the techniques are discussed.

To Russia with care.

16 Harrington JM, Shannon HS. Survey of health care in British medical laboratory workers. Br MedJ 1977;i:626-8. 17 Department of Health and Social Security. Health Circular HC(79)3. London: DHSS, 1979. 18 Department of Health and Social Security. Control of laboratory use of pathogens very dangerous to humans. London: DHSS, 1976. 19 Department of Health and Social Security. Interim Advisory Committee on Safety in Clinical Laboratories. Bulletin No 1, January 1980 (G/H118/ 165). 20 Rankine AD. Laboratory safety. Lancet 1979,ii:1244. 21 Howie Sir James. Reducing infection risks in clinical laboratories. Med Tech Sei 1979;12:23-5. 22 Royal Institute of Chemistry. Code of practice for chemical laboratories. London: RIC, 1976. 23 University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology. Safety Manual. Manchester: UMIST, 1973. 24 Collins CH. Safety in pathology laboratories: bibliographies. London: Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences, 1976 and 1978. 25 Department of Health and Social Security. Hospital building note. No 15: Pathology laboratories. London: DHSS, 1973 (new edition in prepara tion). 26 Grist NR. Hepatitis in clinical laboratories 1975-6. J Clin Pathol 1978 ;31 : 415-7. 27 Public Health Laboratory Service, unpublished. Comm Dis Rep 79/48; 1979. 28 Collins CH. Safety on the cheap. Med Lab World 1979;3:14-9. 29 United States Department of Health Education and Welfare. Classification of etiologic agents on the basis of hazard. Atlanta: Centre for Disease Control, 1974. 30 Center for Disease Control. Laboratory-associated typhoid fever. Morb Mort Wkly Rep 28/44; Nov, 1979. 81 Pike RM. Laboratory associated infections: summary and analysis of 3921 cases. Health Lab Sei 1976;13:105-14.

Survey of safety and health care in British medical laboratories.

A retrospective postal survey of 24 000 medical laboratory workers in England, Wales, and Scotland showed highly variable standards of safety and health care. Pre-employment health screening was offered to two-thirds of employees, the physicians being the least likely to be examined (15%). Scottish laboratories provided better safety control than English and Welsh laboratories, while Public Health Service Laboratories had a better record than National Health Service establishments. Mouth pipetting is still practised in 65% of English and Welsh laboratories, and the use of protective clothing is rarely compulsory. The servicing of safety cabinets is often inadequate. Known and suspected carcinogens are still apparently used in a few laboratories (2-10%). In view of the wide variation in standards among laboratories, urgent consideration should be given to establishing regulations for codes of safe practice rather than relying merely on recommendations as at present.

Incidence of tuberculosis, hepatitis, brucellosis, and shigellosis in British medical laboratory workers.

A retrospective postal survey of 21 000 medical laboratory workers in England and Wales showed 18 new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1971, a five-times increased risk of acquiring the disease compared with the general population. Technicians were at greatest risk, especially if they worked in morbid anatomy departments. Of the 35 cases of hepatitis, the technicians were again the occupational group most likely to acquire the disease. Microbiology staff were twice as likely to report shigellosis as those in other pathology divisions but only one case of brucellosis was reported in the whole laboratory population. A similar survey carried out in 1973 of 3000 Scottish medical laboratory workers corroborates the results from England and Wales. Medical laboratory workers continue to experience a considerable risk of developing an occupationally acquired infection. Improvements in staff safety and health care seem to be necessary.

Book Reviews

American physicians and medical laboratory workers accustomed to new works on microbiology concerned primarily with genetics and molecular biology will be delighted with this new volume. It deals with clinical virology presented in a readable interesting manner. Professor Duguid of Queen's College in Dundee, Scotland, characterized the volume very well in his foreword: "The text is substantial enough to cover the subject comprehensively yet brief and simple enough to be easily assimilable by the beginner. It deals with the main aspects of basic virology and pathology, laboratory diagnosis, epidemiology, and chemotherapy of the viral diseases of man." The combination of text and figures is particularly well suited for the main purpose of this book, which is to serve as an introduction to medical virology. The text figures (many well-reproduced in color) are clear, well chosen, and illustrate features presented in the text. Clinical Virology is described as a "teaching text";

Incidence of tuberculosis among workers in medical laboratories.

Incidence of tuberculosis among workers in medical laboratories.

Memorial to X-Ray Workers

A STONE memorial to a hundred and sixty medical men, physicists, chemists, laboratory workers and nurses whose deaths were due to working with X-rays, was unveiled on April 4 at St. George's Hospital, Hamburg. The countries represented on the memorial are Germany, France, Great Britain, the United States, Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Russia and Holland. The British names inscribed are R. G. Blackall, C. R. C. Lister, Melville H. Walsham, C. Williams, E. E. Wilson, W. H. Fowler, J. S. Hall-Edwards, J. W. L. Spence, J. R. Riddell and W. I. Bruce Pirie.

Amebiasis and Amebic Dysentery

This monograph, by an author who is generally recognised as one of the world authorities on amebiasis, meets a very pressing need on the part of the medical profession and medical laboratory workers. The epidemic of amebic dysentery in Chicago in 1933 emphasized the general lack of knowledge of this important subject and created a demand for an authoritative treatise which would present both the scientific and practical aspects of amebiasis. This, Colonel Craig has accomplished in a manner which will make his work a classic contribution to medical literature. He has drawn from a wide personal experience and from an exhaustive survey of the literature in presenting the best and latest views on all phases of the subject. The book is divided into twelve chapters dealing with the history, geographical distribution, etiology, epidemiology, pathology, symptomatology, complications, clinical and laboratory diagnosis, prognosis, prophylaxis and treatment of amebiasis and amebic dysentery.

Amebiasis and Amebic Dysentery

This monograph, by an author who is generally recognised as one of the world authorities on amebiasis, meets a very pressing need on the part of the medical profession and medical laboratory workers. The epidemic of amebic dysentery in Chicago in 1933 emphasized the general lack of knowledge of this important subject and created a demand for an authoritative treatise which would present both the scientific and practical aspects of amebiasis. This, Colonel Craig has accomplished in a manner which will make his work a classic contribution to medical literature. He has drawn from a wide personal experience and from an exhaustive survey of the literature in presenting the best and latest views on all phases of the subject. The book is divided into twelve chapters dealing with the history, geographical distribution, etiology, epidemiology, pathology, symptomatology, complications, clinical and laboratory diagnosis, prognosis, prophylaxis and treatment of amebiasis and amebic dysentery.

Clinical Diagnosis. A Text-Book of Clinical Microscopy and Clinical Chemistry for Medical Students, Laboratory Workers, and Practitioners of Medicine.

Clinical Diagnosis. A Text-Book of Clinical Microscopy and Clinical Chemistry for Medical Students, Laboratory Workers, and Practitioners of Medicine.

Book Review Clinical Diagnosis . A textbook of clinical microscopy and clinical chemistry for medical students, laboratory workers and practitioners of medicine. By Charles Phillips Emerson, A.B., M.D., Resident Physician, the Johns Hopkins Hospital; Associate in Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co. 1906.

Book Review Clinical Diagnosis . A textbook of clinical microscopy and clinical chemistry for medical students, laboratory workers and practitioners of medicine. By Charles Phillips Emerson, A.B., M.D., Resident Physician, the Johns Hopkins Hospital; Associate in Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co. 1906.