OBJECTIVES Antibiotic exposure in early life may be associated with atopic disease development either by interfering with bacterial commensal flora or by modifying the course of bacterial infections. We evaluated early life exposure to antibiotics and the subsequent development of eczema, wheeze, and allergic sensitization in infancy. METHODS Information on antibiotic use in the first 6 month...

Objectives-To investigate atopy and changes in symptoms, peak flow rate, and bronchial reactivity in people complaining of symptoms during the oilseed rape flowering season. Methods-37 people who had given positive answers to questions about the presence of symptoms in relation to the flowering season of oilseed rape and 24 controls with no such symptoms were studied, although not all took part...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the risk of enzyme sensitisation and clinical allergy in workers exposed to enzymes at Novo Nordisk A/S. METHODS The study was a retrospective follow up study based on medical history and test data originally collected at routine screenings for enzyme allergy by the Occupational Health Service (OHS) of Novo Nordisk A/S during the period 1970-92. Workers were exposed t...

BACKGROUND Pollen released by allergenic members of the botanically unrelated families of Asteraceae and Cupressaceae represent potent elicitors of respiratory allergies in regions where these plants are present. As main allergen sources the Asteraceae species ragweed and mugwort, as well as the Cupressaceae species, cypress, mountain cedar, and Japanese cedar have been identified. The major al...

A survey was conducted at 15 textile plants with dyehouses in western Sweden. Employees with a history of work related rhinitis, asthma, or skin symptoms were offered a clinical and immunological investigation including skin prick tests, skin patch tests, and radioallergosorbent tests (RASTs) to detect specific allergy to reactive dyes. Among the 1142 employees, 162 were exposed to reactive dye...

The prevalence of natural rubber latex (NRL) allergy has been estimated to be 5-18% in health care workers, and latex exposure has been one of the leading causes of occupational asthma in the last several years. We present the cases of two nurses who developed sensitivity to NRL, both with dermatologic symptoms and respiratory symptoms that included asthma. They were referred to the University ...

INTRODUCTION Skin testing with major and minor determinants of benzylpenicillin is the recommended standard practice to evaluate subjects with immediate hypersensitivity to betalactams. The withdrawal of these products from the market has set us back to the early days, before the introduction of reagents for in vivo testing. OBJECTIVES To compare a recently released kit of benzylpenicillin co...

PURPOSE Children with spina bifida, bladder exstrophy and anorectal anomalies are at risk for latex allergy. Severe intraoperative anaphylaxis in a boy treated with kidney transplantation prompted this study to evaluate the prevalence of latex allergy in a cohort of children with chronic renal failure (CRF). MATERIALS AND METHODS Between 1996 and 2002, 57 boys and 28 girls were investigated a...

Allergic diseases are characterized by allergic complaints in the shock organ and specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E in serum. Literature data indicate that the nasal mucosa itself could produce at least a large part of the specific IgE in allergic rhinitis patients. In order to investigate this hypothesis, nasal mucosal biopsies from the inferior turbinate were taken from symptomatic grass pollen a...

The prevalence of allergy to laboratory animals (LAA) was investigated in laboratory technicians and animal keepers. In a questionnaire 41 of 101 technicians reported symptoms provoked by work with laboratory animals. On clinical investigation 30 were found to have symptoms and signs related to contact with animals, and allergy was confirmed by radioallergosorbent tests (RAST) and skin tests in...