What to do about silicosis? Treatment and prevention should be emphasized

If silicosis is not treated promptly and scientifically, it will cause tuberculosis and pose a great threat to life. Miners and excavators are particularly prone to silicosis. Once silicosis occurs, they must stop working and take timely drug treatment.

1. Treatment of silicosis

1. Immediately leave the silicon working environment. Labor force assessment is conducted based on the condition, stage, and compensatory function, and then appropriate dust-free light work or rest is arranged.

2. Take comprehensive measures to prevent and treat complications, reduce pain and prolong life. Improve nutrition, prevent infection, and exercise regularly to strengthen your physical fitness and improve lung function.

3. Drug treatment

4. Treatment of complications: Silicosis combined with pulmonary tuberculosis progresses rapidly, is often drug-resistant, and difficult to control. Therefore, patients with stage II and III silicosis should be routinely and repeatedly checked for tuberculosis bacteria in sputum to ensure early detection and timely treatment. Triple or quadruple therapy should be used, with a treatment course of at least 2 years. If there is a cavity, the treatment time needs to be appropriately extended.

5. Bronchoalveolar lavage: For cases of short-term inhalation of high-concentration silica dust, which manifests as alveolar proteinosis-like changes, bronchoalveolar lavage can be tried.

2. Prevention of Silicosis

Patients all have a close history of exposure to silica dust and a detailed occupational history. There are many types of work that can cause silicosis, including workers who have long-term contact with various metals, coal powder, refractory materials, stone powder, cement, glass, ceramics, etc.

1. The key to controlling or reducing the incidence of silicosis is dust prevention. Industrial and mining enterprises should implement comprehensive dust prevention measures such as reforming production processes, wet operations, enclosing dust sources, ventilation and dust removal, and equipment maintenance and inspection.

2. Strengthen personal protection and comply with dust prevention operating procedures. Regularly monitor the dust concentration in the air in the production environment and strengthen publicity and education. Do a pre-employment physical examination, including a chest X-ray.

3. People with active intrapulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis, as well as various respiratory diseases, should not participate in silica dust work. Strengthen regular physical examinations for silica dust workers, including chest X-rays, with the examination intervals based on the silica exposure content and air dust concentration.

4. Strengthen the prevention and control of tuberculosis in industrial and mining areas. Those with negative tuberculin test should be vaccinated with BCG; those with positive test should receive preventive anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy to reduce the incidence of silicosis combined with tuberculosis.