ORIGINAL PAPER
Studies on Lyme disease incidence rates in selected groups of forestry workers
in West Pomerania, 2005–2014
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Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny w Szczecinie / West Pomeranian University of Technology Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland
(Wydział Kształtowania Środowiska i Rolnictwa, Katedra Inżynierii Systemów Agrotechnicznych / Faculty of Environmental Management
and Agriculture, Department for Engineering of Agrotechnical Systems)
Online publication date: 2017-02-16
Corresponding author
Tomasz Stawicki
Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny
w Szczecinie, Wydział Kształtowania Środowiska i Rolnictwa, Katedra Inżynierii Systemów Agrotechnicznych,
ul. Papieża Pawła VI 1, 71-459 Szczecin
Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2017;68(2):211-20
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ABSTRACT
Background: The data collected by sanitary-epidemiological stations in 2005–2014 were analyzed to determine the incidence
rates of borreliosis Lyme disease in the West Pomerania group of workers exposed to tick bites. Material and Methods: It was
assumed that an adequate comparison of official epidemiological data with the data concerning the number of exposed people,
is an indispensable condition for assessing properly the trend in Lyme disease incidence rates, concerning at the same time a real
scale of occupational exposure. The study covered a selected group of forestry workers, i.e., white-collar staff employed in different
units of the State Forests National Forest Holding with their seats in West Pomerania. The aim of the research was to process and
analyze the data on workers employed in the forest sector and their positions, requested from district sanitary-epidemiological
stations. Results: In the years concerned 282 cases of the occupational disease were recorded mainly in the groups of forest
rangers, junior foresters and forest service inspectors. The values of the incidence factor exhibit high variability with the major
share of cases recorded in the years 2008–2010 that accounted for 61.8% of the total occurrences concerned. The incidence in the
years 2008, 2009 and 2010 amounted to 2418, 2828 and 2646 cases per 100 000 employees, respectively. Conclusions: The results
show that previously published information about the incidence of Lyme disease in the agriculture, forestry and hunting sector,
did not fully illustrate a real scale of occupational risk. Med Pr 2017;68(2):211–220