Your job might expose you to a a lot greater threat of flu

By Robert Preidt
HealthDay reporter

FRIDAY, July 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Your job can significantly increase your risk of flu, with the potential to affect the spread of other infectious diseases, including COVID-19, according to new research.

On average, working people are 35% more likely to get the flu than unemployed people, but analysis of US federal data found wide variations between specific occupations and industries.

The more work-related contacts people had with others, the greater their risk of flu. For example, salespeople were 41% more at risk than farmers, and those involved in education, health, and welfare were 52% more at risk than miners.

The results took into account individual characteristics such as vaccinations and health insurance.

Rates were higher in bad flu years and were consistent across company size, number of jobs, and hours worked, according to a study accepted for publication in the Journal of Public Economics.

The researchers suggested that their findings could influence government policies on a variety of issues affecting private businesses, from the design and management of physical workplaces to policies on sick leave and remote working.

Study author Dongya Koh, assistant professor of economics at the University of Arkansas, Sam M. Walton College of Business, said the results shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“We hope they will be relevant to understanding the spread of flu and other infectious diseases transmitted through respiratory droplets or close human contact, including SARS and COVID,” he said in a university press release.

Koh said the results open the door to an assessment of “non-pharmaceutical guidelines” to combat contagion and potentially pandemics.

“With this in mind, we believe that these results form a basis for a company policy that protects workers as well as optimizing production and efficiency,” said Koh.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers tips on how to prevent flu.

SOURCE: University of Arkansas, news release, June 26, 2021