A just release study reports that silica workers have a greater risk of contracting fungal infections and dying from them:
"We found that persons who die with silicosis are more likely to die with pulmonary mycosis than are those who die without pneumoconiosis or who die with the more common pneumoconioses. Insofar as silica dust impairs cellular defense, silica-exposed workers (without silicosis) may be at increased risk for fungal infections, as they are for mycobacterial infections."
Concurrent Silicosis and Pulmonary Mycosis at Death,Yulia Iossifova, Rachel Bailey, John Wood, and Kathleen Kreiss, DOI: 10.3201/eid1602.090824 Emerg Infect Dis. 2010 Feb
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