Posted By Tony abc jprhdnMurphy
Why would you do that. It is as rare as rocking horse poo.

Posted By Tony abc jprhdnMurphy
It is help. By concentrating efforts on significant risks, ans not fanciful ones, it may benefit operatives at the workface.

Posted By Stuart Hufton
Hi

We printed our own for our staff with the corporate logo stuff on it but I can send you a copy if it helps.

Posted By Stuart Hufton

indg84 is intended to be printed as a small 3-fold card


http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg84.pdf

Posted By Seamus O Sullivan
My understanding of weils is that it presents itself as flu like symptoms, and if the guy goes to the doctor, he may in error be treated for the flu, it is important for the worker to mention he was in a place where rats may be present, the doctor should order a blood test.

One can not dely with this bacteria in ones system as it does kill!! and has killed.

Is the above correct, if not please let me know as I like to be 100% acurate.


thanks
seamus

Posted By Bob Youel

I agree that weils disease is not as uncommon as some may think where people work in certain situations. However commonsense needs to be used when risk ranking it with other work activities

Posted By Dave Merchant
Credit-card-sized information cards describing the very basic symptoms and causes of leptospirosis were printed in the past by several organisations, mostly for use by sport cavers, kayakers, etc., and a few large companies such as water utilities and London Underground made up similar cards for their employees. This has led to a bit of an urban myth that these cards are widely available and that employees 'have to carry them'. There is certainly no legal requirement to carry such a card (although there is a legal duty for an employer to educate their staff as to any workplace hazards and precautions), and at this time there are no suppliers of information cards which sell to the public in a format suitable for workplace users.

The issue of course is one of size - a card small enough to carry in your pocket cannot have enough information printed on it for the card to provide comprehensive 'education' for a worker, and general phrases like 'the disease is spread by rats' can be entirely wrong depending on the location and environmental conditions (for example in many places the primary infection risk to humans is not the feral rat, but another wild mammal or livestock species). An information card would need to describe the true job-specific and site-specific risks to that individual, the precautions required and work practices suggested, including any safety measures or equipment provided by the employer, a full reference of all the potential symptoms and who to contact in the event of suspicion. Many of the cards in circulation in the UK, for example, carry outdated contact details for the old public health laboratory in Hereford and so could potentially cause delay or confusion in treatment.

As to the number of human cases reported in the UK, it currently stands at between 30 and 50 per year, with an estimated reporting frequency of around 1% (so there will be around 100x more infections than reports).

Posted By alan brotherton
HSE do a handy pocket card - INDG84. This contains information for the worker and a section "to the doctor"
Regards

Posted By peter gotch 1
Seamus - you are correct.

Part of the problem is that most GPs are very badly informed as to occupational diseases [and in this case mostly disease relating to leisure exposure]- hence the recommendation of a card to inform both worker and doctor. Early invention is important.

Terminal outcomes from Weil's disease are VERY uncommon amongst one of the most risk-exposed occupational groups, i.e. sewage workers - the issue of warning cards [and information during training] to these people has been ubiquitous for decades.

Further, whilst exposure to airborne contaminants in raw sewage can and does lead to flu like symptoms, most sewage workers appear to develop rapid immunity [there's industry published guidance on this] - others are likely to deselect themselves from such an environment.

Hence, sewage workers probably more likely than the population at large to think flu like symptoms, possible leptospirosis, get to GP.

Regards, Peter

Posted By John Richards
Novel form of vaccination.
Let your workers get infected.
Hope you never get a (H&S) job with the health service !

Posted By GaryC40
I was not aware that cattle urine also spreads the disease...is this correct?

GC

Posted By Seamus O Sullivan
What other animals/rodents can spread this disease?

Thanks in advance for your replies

Posted By Dave Merchant
Seamus et. al. - just Google it. There's way more information to consider than would be appropriate to post here, but it's completely documented online.

Posted By Seamus O Sullivan
It could at times be dangerous to drink from a bottle. any idea how long this bacteria can live on bottles etc? I have read that salt water killa this bacterian but fresh water is a real problem.

Posted By Graham Bullough
Just to add to Peter Gotch's response, it's probably the case that most doctors, and not just most GPs, are not clued up about leptospirosis (Weil's Disease) and occupational diseases or the same diseases contracted through recreational activities.

Some years ago one of my employer's managers (Ken) fell into a canal during a cruising holiday and later developed a flu-like illness which got worse and resulted in him being taken to hospital. The hospital medics were baffled because they could not diagnose the cause of his illness. Fortunately, one of the nurses on the ward had previously worked in the Far East or somewhere else where leptospirosis is endemic and insisted that Ken be tested for it. When the test result came back as positive he then received appropriate prompt treatment which probably saved his life.

Thus, it's important that anyone who might be at at risk of contracting leptospirosis, through work or leisure activities, is aware of the possibility and can mention it to their GP and/or other medics if they later become ill. Being able to show doctors a card about this possibility, no matter who has produced it, would probably have more effect in persuading doctors to seriously consider leptospirosis rather than a patient simply telling them by word of mouth. Also, card carriers could use their cards as a prompt to mention to relatives and friends the possibility of infection and ask them to tell doctors about leptospirosis in the event of the card carrier forgetting or becoming too ill to do so.

A final thought: Does anyone happen to know how or why rats which carry leptospirosis are immune to it? A similar sort of question arises about mosquitos which carry malaria!

Posted By Phil Rose
Hi Paul

I thought there used to be a pocket card but can't find it either. I assume you have seen INDG84.

We produced our own pocket card that covers a number of 'diseases' and will share if that helps

Phil