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The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) generated a huge pressure on health care systems worldwide and exposed their lack of preparation for a major health crisis. In the times of a respiratory disease pandemic, members of the dental profession, due to having a direct contact with the patients’ oral cavity, body fluids and airborne pathogens, are exposed to a great occupational hazard of becoming infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The authors carried out a systematic literature search using the main online databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, UpToDate, Embase, and Web of Science) with the following keywords “COVID-19,” “2019-nCoV,” “coronavirus,” “SARS-CoV-2,” “dental COVID-19,” “dentistry COVID-19,” “occupational hazards dentistry,” “ventilation,” “air disinfection,” “airborne transmission,” “hydrogen peroxide disinfection,” “UV disinfection,” “ozone disinfection,” “plasma disinfection,” and “TiO2 disinfection.” They included publications focused on COVID-19 features, occupational hazards for dental staff during COVID-19 pandemic, and methods of air disinfection. They found that due to the work environment conditions, if appropriate measures of infection control are not being implemented, dental offices and dental staff can become a dangerous source of COVID-19 transmission. That is why the work safety protocols in dentistry have to be revised and additional methods of decontamination implemented. The authors specifically advise on the utilization of wildly accepted methods like ultraviolet germicidal irradiation with additional disinfection systems, which have not been introduced in dentistry yet, like vaporized hydrogen peroxide, non-thermal plasma and air filters with photocatalytic disinfection properties. Due to its toxicity, ozone is not the first-choice method for air decontamination of enclosed clinical settings. Med Pr. 2021;72(1)39-48.Humiliation at work is a dangerous and, at the same time, poorly understood phenomenon. It is associated with an asymmetry of power, which induces in the humiliated person a feeling of having a lesser value and being inferior. It manifests itself as an internal event (judgment and emotions), an external event (an act of violence) or systemic social conditions (poverty and discrimination). Experiencing humiliation has negative consequences both when an individual becomes a subject and a witness of a humiliating event. These consequences concern many areas of an individual’s life and functioning within an organization. The article discusses the relationship between humiliation at the organizational level and work pathologies such as mobbing, intimidation, bullying, or harassment. Their purpose and effect is to humiliate an individual or a group of people, and since humiliation is associated with a sense of injustice and a desire for revenge, it often permanently disrupts the relationship between the parties and observers of such behaviors. Despite its individual and social significance, the phenomenon of humiliation is still a gap in the consideration of a healthy working environment and the relationship between people employed in the organization. Unlike in foreign literature, the phenomenon of humiliation is not a frequent subject of consideration in Polish studies, although interest has increased in recent years. The article proposes definitions of this phenomenon from 3 research perspectives, along with presenting selected concepts concerning the nature of this phenomenon and reports from research on the consequences of humiliating behavior at work, from the point of view of both an individual and an organization. Med Pr. 2021;72(1)61-8.

Keeping short, unpainted nails is a significant element of effective hand disinfection among nurses. MEK inhibitor The aim of the study was to examine the qualitative microbiological purity of painted nails after hand disinfection, taking into account the type of the nail varnish.

Materials were collected from 188 nurses. The results were compiled according to the type of the nail varnish applied on the nail plate. The control group consisted of 24 nurses with natural nails. An indicator of the effectiveness of hand disinfection was the number and type of bacteria grown from the materials collected from the participants’ hands – from the nail plate, from under the nail plate and from the skin around the nail plate.

In the case of the nail plate swab method, the highest percentage of pathogenic microorganisms grew on the nails covered with a regular varnish (21.7%, p < 0.05). A long-lasting (10 days on average) regular nail varnish was likely to result in ineffective hand disinfection (p < 0.001). In the test intending the nail plate with a LED/UV light curing gel, and then painting it with a hybrid varnish, also increases the risk of ineffective hand disinfection. Med Pr. 2021;72(1)29-37.

Excessive spinal load caused by a schoolbag has a major impact on the child’s body posture. The National Sanitary Inspector recommends the limit of schoolbag weight as corresponding to 10-15% of the student’s weight. The aim of the study was to assess the spinal load of children aged 6-9 years, caused by schoolbags, and to check if it meets the requirements expressed as a percentage of the child’s weight. The weight of the items in schoolbags was also established. In addition, parents’ awareness about schoolbags and the child’s use of additional storage spaces (lockers) were analyzed.

Overall, 332 children aged 6-9 years (172 girls, 160 boys) attending selected schools in a city located in the Silesian Voivodeship participated in the study. The study included determining schoolbag weight and presenting it in relation to the child’s weight. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for 2 independent variables with non-normally distributed data (the Shapiro-Wilk test). The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare &gt7.

The issue of heavy schoolbags remains a challenge for public health decision-makers despite the regulation that requires to provide children with space to leave books at school. The current rules do not effectively prevent children from carrying too heavy schoolbags. It is advisable to take measures to set an absolutely mandatory standard with which schools and students will be required to comply. Med Pr. 2020;71(6)687-97.