Abstract
A total of 1,112 cases of occupation-related diseases in 952 workers were reported in the Czech Republic in 2020. Of these, 1,035 were occupational diseases and 77 cases were given the status of "endangerment by an occupational disease".
The incidence of occupational diseases was 23.7 cases per 100,000 health-insured employees in the public sector. Most of the occupational diseases occurred in the Moravian-Silesian region (304 cases, i.e. 27.3%).
Most of the recognized cases occurred in the economic sector "health care" (CZ-NACE Q86 total 227 cases, i.e. 20.4%) and "manufacture of motor vehicles" (CZ-NACE C29 total 129 cases, i.e. 11.6%). Carpal tunnel syndrome (284 cases, i.e. 27.4%) and COVID-19 (150 cases, i.e. 14.5%) were the most frequently reported occupational diseases.
The carpal tunnel syndrome predominated also among the cases reported as "endangerment by an occupational disease" (68 cases, i.e. 88.3%). Many diseases are undoubtedly underdiagnosed and underreported, for example COVID-19, allergic diseases (extrinsic allergic alveolitis, asthma bronchiale, allergic rhinitis) or cancers.
This may be due to a non-specific clinical picture, unfamiliarity with criteria for recognition of an occupational disease, and/or long latency to the disease manifestation.