Occupational exposure to dust and to fumes, work as a welder and invasive pneumococcal disease risk

Occupational exposures to metal fumes have been associated with increased pneumonia risk, but the risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) has not been characterised previously.We studied 4438 cases aged 20-65 from a Swedish registry of invasive infection caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The case index date was the date the infection was diagnosed. Six controls for each case, matched for gender, age and region of residency, were selected...