OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY WORKING WITH PARASITIC AGENTS IN ANIMAL AND HUMAN MEDICINE

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY WORKING WITH PARASITIC AGENTS IN ANIMAL AND HUMAN MEDICINE

NAZMIYE ALTINTAS
ALI OSMAN KARABABA
CENGIZ DEMIR
NURAY ALTINTAS

Abstract

The risk of exposure to some of the parasitic agents (such as zoonotic agents) is quite common during experimental and laboratory work. Especially some professions such as veterinarians can have risk of exposure to zoonotic agents is inherent in the practice of veterinary medicine as well as health care workers providing patient care at the hospitals, clinical laboratories and during experimental researches. Even a small percentage of occupational injuries and diseases are reported, if the health workers are working animal models they can expose themselves to these agents. A number of parasites causes parasitic diseases. This paper provides a brief description of some of the relevant parasitic diseases (which include blood and tissue and intestinal protozoon and helminthic diseases; such as trypanosomiasis, toxoplasmosis, malaria, leishmaniasis, cryptosporidiasis, giardiasis, amoebiasis, schistosomiasis, echinococcosis) encountered by working in animal and human medicine.

Key words

Occupational health and safety, parasitic disease, parasitic agent

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