Infectious Disease Epidemiology 2020: The Importance of (Re)Emerging Occupational Infectious Agents

Dear Colleagues,

During recent years, media coverage has raised public awareness of (re)emerging biological risks, the current pandemic caused by COVID-19 being a recent example. Most of the (re)emerging biological risks also cause new occupational health risks, and therefore occupational infections are not only associated with health workers, but appear as a new and increasing cause of occupational disease, while older risks like measles are re-emerging. The epidemiology of occupational infectious diseases has some special features: workers are both ‘at risk’ and ‘sources of risk’, workers may be immune, a case may be a source without being recognized as a case, there can be a need for urgency, and preventive measures (usually) have a good scientific basis.

Worldwide, an estimated 320,000 employees die annually from work-related infectious diseases. Morbidity from work-related infectious disease is probably much higher, but the true extent of incidence is difficult to establish, as data are lacking.

Undisputedly, work-related infectious disease may result in harm to the health of an individual worker and may impose a high disease burden on a population.

In this Special Issue, we invite all interested researchers to contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of occupational (re)emerging infections and preventive strategies.

Dr. Antoon De Schryver
Dr. Koen De Schrijver
Dr. Guido François
Dr. Helena C. Maltezou
Guest Editors

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