Disease

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As reports of the COVID-19 pandemic dominate the headlines, keeping calm can prove difficult. However, one of the best ways to combat anxiety – and be prepared – is to be informed.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – more commonly known as MRSA – is a potentially dangerous type of staph bacteria that can lead to difficult-to-treat infections. MRSA is resistant to certain antibiotics and, although an infection may begin as a skin sore, it can become serious and potentially deadly, NIOSH warns.

Occupational asthma can develop when a worker breathes in gases, chemical fumes, dust or other work-related substances. According to Mayo Clinic, it also can result from exposure to a substance a worker is sensitive to, triggering an allergic or immunological response.

For some workers, mosquitoes are an on-the-job hazard. That’s because some mosquitoes carry diseases – such as Zika virus, West Nile virus, Chikungunya virus, dengue and malaria – that can be transmitted to people.

If you think you don’t need to worry about the flu, look at the 2017-18 season and think again.

Pneumoconiosis is a group of diseases that includes asbestosis, silicosis and coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung.

Occupational asthma is a respiratory disease in which on-the-job exposure to certain substances causes the airways of a person’s lungs to swell and narrow.

Pneumoconiosis is an encompassing term given to “any lung disease caused by dusts that are breathed in and then deposited deep in the lungs causing damage,” the American Lung Association states. Pneumoconiosis generally is considered an occupational lung disease because exposure to the dusts that can cause the condition often takes place at work.

Occupational skin diseases are the second-most common type of occupational disease. NIOSH estimates that more than 13 million U.S. workers are potentially exposed to chemicals that can be absorbed through their skin.

Body aches, runny nose, fever, headache and fatigue. These are some of the symptoms of the flu.