Baker’s asthma: Still among the most frequent occupational respiratory disorders☆,☆☆,★
Section snippets
Subjects
Group A comprised 89 people who were working in bakeries in the eastern part of the Ruhr area (82 men, 7 women). All were recruited on a voluntary basis by telephone calls to bakeries; 91 employers refused to participate, and 89 employers agreed to send employees to participate in the screening.
Group B comprised 104 subjects (85 men, 19 women) filing a claim for compensation of baker’s asthma. All were subjected to a medical expert opinion in our medical department. Occupational and medical
Case history
Because none of the subjects worked in a bakery, respective workplace-related symptoms were, as expected, not reported.
Skin prick testing
Two subjects (5%) were sensitized to rye flour, one (2%) to α-amylase; and 16 (37%) to at least one common allergen.
IgE antibody determination
Six subjects (15%) had IgE antibodies to wheat flour, 4 (10%) to rye flour, 4 (10%) to α-amylase; and 2 (5%) to soy bean flour. Total IgE was elevated in 18% of the subjects.
Lung function testing
Three people demonstrated bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and one person demonstrated an
DISCUSSION
Our study on screened bakers confirms the high prevalence of sensitization, symptoms, and abnormal lung function parameters in this profession.
Although we cannot exclude a certain healthy worker effect and bias because of the participation of about 50% of the working population in the Bochum area in the screening (and in the selection of bakeries instead of bakers; group A), we do not think that this caused a major bias. Principally, our data are compatible with those of other investigators.
Acknowledgements
We thank Iris Franzen for assistance in data analysis and Karin Weber for improvement of the English.
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From the Professional Associations’ Research Institute for Occupational Medicine, University of Bochum, Bochum.
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Reprint requests: Xaver Baur, MD, Research Institute for Occupational Medicine, University of Bochum, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, D-44789 Bochum, Germany.
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