INTRODUCTION Climate change, air pollution, temperature increase and other environmental variables are modifying air quality, contributing to the increase of prevalence of allergic respiratory diseases. Allergies are complex diseases characterized by multilevel interactions between individual susceptibility, response to immune modulation and environmental exposures to physical, chemical and bio...

BACKGROUND Methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI)/methylisothiazolinone (MI) and MI are common preservatives in industrial and household products and in cosmetics. Occupational contact allergy to MCI/MI or MI has been reported among painters and paint factory workers in particular. OBJECTIVES To retrospectively describe patients with occupational contact allergy to MCI/MI and MI at the Finnish Ins...

Chemical allergy describes adverse health effects that result from the stimulation of specific immune responses by chemicals. Hypersensitivity reactions are the result of normally beneficial immune responses acting inappropriately against benign antigens, causing inflammatory reactions and tissue damage. The two most frequent manifestations of chemical-induced allergy are contact hypersensitivi...

BACKGROUND Patch testing is mandatory for diagnosing contact dermatitis. It is, however, crucial that patients understand and remember the result of the test. OBJECTIVES The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of patch testing with respect to patients' ability to remember patch test results and the results of natural rubber latex protein allergy after 2 years. METHODS One hundred an...

Objective: To define threshold limit values and legally binding occupational exposure limits. Data Sources: Review of suitable literature. Study Selection: Studies based on detailed descriptions and/or measurements of airborne allergenic dust, total allergens, or even key allergens were selected. Results: Prevalences of IgE-mediated sensitization and occupational asthma are related to the aeroa...

To identify the allergy problem of a 36-year old swimming instructor, who experiences heavy itching and rashes whenever she comes in contact with pool water. Patch tests were performed with European standard series and materials from the work floor. A positive patch test to aluminum chloride and flocculant was observed. Occupational dermatitis is, based on a contact allergy to aluminum chloride...

Chemicals are able to cause various forms of allergic disease in susceptible individuals. Among those of greatest importance in the context of occupational disease is chemical respiratory allergy, where allergic sensitization of the respiratory tract is associated with elicitation of rhinitis, asthma and/or other pulmonary symptoms following inhalation exposure to the inducing chemical allergen...

Background Serine protease inhibitors (SPI) comprising 60-90 amino acid residues, are frequent in plants, and belong to the protein family PR-6. It has recently been shown that a SPI-variant of wheat acts as an important allergen in baker’s asthma but not in persons suffering from wheatinduced food allergy. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of a recombinant SPI-variant of Hevea br...

1. Center for Lung Regeneration, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15250; 2. Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710; 3. The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Diseases, Pulmonary Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh,...

Asthma caused by allergy to proteins from cereal grains is one of the most common types of occupational asthma (OA) worldwide and its prevalence does not appear to be declining. Baker’s asthma is the most serious manifestation of occupational allergy among bakery workers, which develops after inhalational exposure to flour dust allergens encountered in the work environment. Exposure to cereal f...