Exposure to bioaerosols: Allergic reactions and respiratory function in Polish hop growers

Background The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of work‐related symptoms in hop growers and their relation to bioaerosols exposure. The study group comprised 69 hop growers and 58 office workers as controls. The examination included: physician‐administrated questionnaire, PEF measuremen...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of industrial medicine 2004-10, Vol.46 (4), p.371-374
Main Authors: Góra, Anna, Skórska, Czesława, Prażmo, Zofia, Krysińska-Traczyk, Ewa, Sitkowska, Jolanta, Dutkiewicz, Jacek
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aerosols
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Air Pollutants, Occupational - immunology
Allergic diseases
Biological and medical sciences
Colony Count, Microbial
Endotoxins - immunology
farmers
Female
hop (Humulus lupulus)
Humans
Humulus
Hypersensitivity - epidemiology
Hypersensitivity - etiology
Hypersensitivity - immunology
Immunopathology
Interleukin-6 - blood
Interleukin-8 - blood
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Occupational Diseases - epidemiology
Occupational Diseases - etiology
Occupational Exposure - adverse effects
organic dust
Poland - epidemiology
Prevalence
Respiratory Function Tests
sensitization
Skin allergic diseases. Stinging insect allergies
Skin Tests
Surveys and Questionnaires
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - analysis
work-related
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of work‐related symptoms in hop growers and their relation to bioaerosols exposure. The study group comprised 69 hop growers and 58 office workers as controls. The examination included: physician‐administrated questionnaire, PEF measurements, skin prick test, agar–gel precipitation test, and migration inhibition test. Microbiological air sampling was performed on all farms. Results The concentrations of total airborne microflora ranged from 2.08 to 129.6 × 103 CFU/m3. Airborne endotoxin and dust concentrations ranged from 26 to 6250 ng/m3 and 0.2–31.7 mg/m3, respectively. Altogether 52.2% of farmers complained of work‐related symptoms. Positive skin reactions to microbial allergens were significantly more frequent in a group of hop growers with work‐related respiratory symptoms compared to the rest of the farmers (18% vs 2%, P 
ISSN:0271-3586
1097-0274
DOI:10.1002/ajim.20074