Case Of Occupational Asthma Research Articles

Occupational rhinitis and asthma caused by inhalation of Balfourodendron riedelianum (Pau Marfim) wood dust

The case of a 30-year-old wood-worker, with rhinitis and asthma induced by exposure to the dust of Pau Marfim wood (Balfourodendron riedelianum) is reported. Hypersensitivity to this wood was confirmed by positive skin test, bronchial challenge test and RAST. The bronchial response was inhibited by sodium cromoglycate. Unexposed persons did not exhibit reactivity to this wood in any of the tests. When electrophoretic analysis of proteins in polyacrylamide gel was applied to a crude (phosphate-buffered) extract, an homogeneous distribution of low MW material was detected, with no clearly defined bands, suggesting the presence of filamentous type proteins. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first reported case of occupational rhinitis and asthma due to Pau Marfim wood dust. A type I (IgE-mediated) hypersensitivity mechanism was demonstrated but the non-glomerular nature of the proteins precluded further identification of the antigens involved.

Case report of occupational asthma due to palisander wood dust and bronchoprovocation challenge by inhalation of pure wood dust from a capsule

Occupational asthma due to exposure to exotic wood dust and to rosewood (Dalbergia family) has been reported earlier. This paper deals with a case of occupational asthma due to palisander wood dust (Dalbergia nigra) in a joiner who sanded and polished parts of musical instruments. The causal relationship was confirmed by a positive skin reaction to an allergenic preparation and a positive nonimmediate, late asthmatic reaction after inhalation challenge testing with pure palisander wood dust. A method of bronchoprovocation testing with an occupational allergen is presented. It proved to be a practical and advantageous method in its simplicity and single-blind application of placebo. It should, however, be used with great caution, in well-chosen cases in whom nonspecific bronchial reactivity is proved or recorded to be in normal ranges.

Guidelines for the epidemiologic assessment of occupational asthma: Report of the Subcommittee on the Epidemiologic Assessment of Occupational Asthma, Occupational Lung Disease Committee

Physician reporting of cases of communicable disease has played an important role in detection and control of disease outbreaks.’ A similar expectation exists for physician reporting of occupational diseases, including occupational asthma. The diagnosis of a single case of occupational asthma may be a sentinel event that reveals the need to search for other cases, as well as remediable underlying causes.’ As stated by Rutstein et al.,3 such an occurrence may: “(1) provide the impetus for epidemiologic or industrial hygiene studies, or (2) serve as a warning signal that materials substitution, engineering control, personal protection, or medical care may be required.” Also, other purposes may be served by consequent epidemiologic and industrial hygiene studies. An epidemiologic survey may be needed to convince responsible parties that a health problem exists that is in some measure attributable to workplace exposures. An epidemiologic survey will be needed to quantitate the magnitude of a work-related health problem, whether the magnitude is expressed as disease prevalence, incidence, or some other measure. An epidemiologic study may identify personal risk factors that explain why certain persons have manifested a disease as a consequence of their occupational exposure(s). Resultant recommendations for control of exposures in the workplace may facilitate management of the index case and affected co-workers, and help prevent the occurrence of additional cases.

Occupational asthma caused by Voacanga africana seed dust

We report a case of a nonatopic patient in whom exposure to Voacanga africana (VA) dust precipitated asthma. The patient was indirectly exposed to this dust by her husband, a chemist working in a pharmaceutical plant in which VA is used for the production of vinburnine, an alkaloid derivative. Vinburnine (Cervoxan) is widely used in conditions associated with cerebral circulatory insufficiency. Studies revealed the presence of immediate skin test reactivity to VA dust, and specific anti-VA antibodies were detected in the patient's serum by the reverse enzyme immunoassay technique. Bronchial challenge with a VA extract also resulted in an immediate asthmatic response without late reaction. These findings suggest a type I IgE-mediated immunologic mechanism as being responsible for the patient's respiratory symptoms. Unexposed persons did not exhibit reactivity to this seed with any of the tests referred to above. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of occupational asthma caused by VA seeds.

Occupational asthma in a florist caused by the dried plant, baby's breath

A 34-yr-old gift shop owner with a history of virus-induced bronchospasm and seasonal allergic rhinitis developed daily asthma when he began working with dried plants. Extracts were made from these dried plants, including baby's breath, German statice, leather leaf fern, and eucalyptus. Intradermal skin tests with these extracts were positive for the dried plant, baby's breath ( Gypsophilia panniculata). The patient's serum contained elevated levels of IgE antibody to baby's breath extract, his leukocytes released histamine after challenge in vitro with the baby's breath extract, and bronchial challenge with baby's breath extract produced >20% fall in his FEV 1 from baseline. He recovered fully after avoiding the plant. This is the first report of a case of IgE-mediated occupational asthma involving the dried plant, baby's breath.

A Case of Occupational Asthma Induced by Inhalation of Pancreatin

A Case of Occupational Asthma Induced by Inhalation of Pancreatin