The psychosocial work environment among educators during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The education sector has been heavily impacted by COVID-19. While the impact on school-aged children has received much attention, less attention has focused on the experiences of educators.

AIMS

To compare various dimensions of the psychosocial work environment and health outcomes between educators engaged in online learning to those engaged in in-person learning in the Canadian province of Ontario.

METHODS

Responses from 5438 educators engaged in either online or in-person learning were collected between 23 November and 21 December 2020; three months after the start of the 2020/21 academic year in September 2020. Psychosocial outcomes included quantitative demands, work pace, predictability, role conflicts, and social support from supervisors and co-workers; assessed using an abbreviated version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. Secondary outcomes included burnout and sleep troubles. Ordinary Least-Squares regression models examined adjusted mean differences in the levels of outcomes for respondents in in-person versus online learning, after adjustment for a variety of covariates.

RESULTS

Compared to respondents engaged in in-person learning, respondents engaged in online learning reported less predictability, higher role conflicts and less support from supervisors and co-workers. Statistically significant differences in work pace, burnout and sleep troubles were also observed across learning modes, although these differences did not exceed previously suggested thresholds for minimum important differences.

CONCLUSIONS

Important differences in the psychosocial work environment were observed between respondents engaged in in-person learning versus online learning. Addressing these differences is required, given the potential continued importance of online learning within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Mycoplasma penetrans bacteremia and primary antiphospholipid syndrome

Mycoplasma penetrans, a rare bacterium so far only found in HIV-infected persons, was isolated in the blood and throat of a non-HIV-infected patient with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (whose etiology and pathogenesis are unknown).

Serological and cellular immune responses to non-structural proteins in animals infected with FMDV

In order to provide a rational base for the evaluation of FMDV non structural proteins as diagnostic probes, we have performed systematic longitudinal studies of the humoral and cellular immune responses to these proteins in animals infected with different FMDV serotypes. Although primary antibody responses to all the non structural proteins were observed, antibody titres were highly variable, ranging from insignificant in some cases, to clearly positive in others. In general, even the obvious positive responses were of short duration. For this reasons, discrimination between infected and vaccinated cattle is only possible at a herd level, and in our experiments the most useful target was the non structural protein 3A, although addition of 2C and 3C would provide a more sensitive test. As an alternative, with the major advantage of use directly on living cattle in the field, recombinant non structural proteins were evaluated in Delayed Type Hypersensitivity (DTH) skin tests. With this test, which measures Th1 type cellular immune responses, the most T cell immunogenic non structural proteins were 2B, 2C and 3D. Thus, DTH skin test could be a very useful tool to differentiate infected from vaccinated cattle.

Thyroid hormones and cytogenetic outcomes in backpack sprayers using ethylenebis(dithiocarbamate) (EBDC) fungicides in Mexico

Ethylenebis(dithiocarbamate) (EBDC) fungicides are used heavily in the United States. EBDCs (e.g., mancozeb, maneb) are metabolized to ethylene thiourea (ETU). The EPA classifies ETU as a carcinogen, based on thyroid and other cancers in rodents, and has restricted the use of EBDCs, while requiring workers to use protective equipment. There are no data on the potential carcinogenicity of EBDCs in humans, and there is only one study on human genotoxicity. ETU is known to cause decreases of thyroxine (T4) and increases in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in rodents. We have studied cytogenetic outcomes and serum thyroid hormone levels among 49 heavily exposed workers without protective equipment spraying EBDC on tomatoes in Mexico. We also studied 14 lightly exposed landowners and 31 nonexposed controls. Urinary ETU was used to compare exposure between groups. We found an increase in TSH (p = 0.05) among applicators compared to controls, but no decrease in thyroid hormone (T4). We found increases in sister chromatid exchange (p = 0.03) and in chromosome translocations (chromosome aberrations that persist through cell division) for applicators compared to controls (p = 0.05). However, the subset of reciprocal translocations showed a lesser increase (p = 0.24). Our data suggest that EBDCs affect the thyroid gland and the lymphocyte genome among heavily exposed workers. However, our data are limited to subclinical outcomes, are of borderline statistical significance, and should be interpreted with caution.

Detection of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in women sexually active or not

Genital mycoplasmas play an important role in genitourinary tract disease. The purpose of this study was to isolate M. hominis and U. urealyticum from vaginal and throat swabs and urine from women sexually active or not. Samples were taken from women with (cases) or without (controls) genitourinary tract disease and were dipped inoculated into 1 ml of E broth with arginine or urea and ten-fold dilutions were done. Samples were incubated at 37 degrees C until phenol red indicator changed to color purple. Identification of species was done by polymerase chain reaction technique. M. hominis was identified with oligonucleotides that correspond to the nucleotide sequence of 16S rRNA gene and U. urealyticum was identified with oligonucleotides that correspond to the nucleotide sequence of the urease gene (Blanchard et al.). There was no statistical difference (X2 P > .05) between isolation percentages from vaginal swabs, while there was statistical difference between urine samples. These mycoplasmas were isolated in higher percentages from pubertal girls and were recovered until the fifth ten-fold dilution both from vaginal swabs and urine. For throat swabs they were only recovered from sexually active women.

Experimental arthritis induced by Mycoplasma pneumoniae in rabbits

Experimental arthritis in rabbits was induced by M. pneumoniae. We compared it with the arthritis produced by well known animal arthritogenic agents (M. pulmonis and M. arthritidis). Mycoplasmas were detected in the knee joint by different techniques. M. pneumoniae and M. pulmonis produced an acute arthritis that resolved in 2 weeks while, M. arthritidis produced a chronic arthritis. Live M. pneumoniae and M. pulmonis were recovered from the joint during all the experiments. No live M. arthritidis was detected. Live mycoplasmas play an important role in acute arthritis. A similar inflammatory pattern was shown by M. pneumoniae and M. pulmonis. This animal model could be helpful in the study of arthritis induced by a human pathogen mycoplasma.

Monitoring organophosphate insecticide-exposed workers for cholinesterase depression. New technology for office or field use

A serious limitation to the diagnosis of mild organophosphate poisoning and to the preventive screening of organophosphate-exposed workers has been the large interindividual variability in erythrocyte cholinesterase. This makes it necessary to obtain a pre-exposure baseline measurement of enzyme activity as a basis for evaluating subsequent declines. To evaluate a new battery-operated colorimetric erythrocyte cholinesterase kit, 23 workers at a Mexican pesticide formulation plant were examined. All workers had normal cholinesterase, and exposed and unexposed workers were found to have similar mean cholinesterase levels. Although erythrocyte cholinesterase was found to have a coefficient of variation of 12% (similar to that reported in previous studies), hemoglobin-adjusted erythrocyte cholinesterase had a markedly reduced coefficient of variation (7.4%). The 90% confidence interval (24.9-31.7 IU/g hemoglobin) resulted in a lower normal limit that is 78% of the upper limit. Even if a pre-exposure baseline were high normal but unknown at the time of examination, the supervising clinician can be confident that any person with a normal result will be no less than 78% of baseline. The kit is moderately priced, easy to use in the field setting, and the low variability to the assay should allow improvement in diagnosis, screening, and in the epidemiologic evaluation of exposure.