Sensitization, clinical symptoms, and lung function disturbances among poultry farm workers in the german democratic republic
✍ Scribed by Stefan Müller; K.-Ch Bergmann; H. Kramer; H. Wuthe
- Book ID
- 101444105
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1986
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 112 KB
- Volume
- 10
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0271-3586
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✦ Synopsis
Three hundred thirty-nine poultry farmers (234 females, 105 males) were investigated by immunological methods, lung function tests, systematic interviewing (questionnaires), and registration of respiratory symptoms. Serum antibodies against organic dusts of fowls (hen serum,-HS; hen total extract,-HTE; hen droppings,-HD) were detected by means of counterimmunoelectrophoresis.
Of all workers, 22% had precipitating antibodies: nine persons (3%) had a strong sensitization with at least two antibodies against HS or HTE, 39 persons (11 %) had at least one antibody against HS or HTE, and 28 persons (8%) had a weak sensitization with one antibody against HD. The number of persons with antibodies and respiratory symptoms was significantly higher in the departments with especially high dust concentrations (breeding and keeping of adult animals). A correlation was established between the duration of exposure and the frequency of antibody formation.
The intracutaneous testing with 1: 10 and 1: 100 diluted sterilized HS was performed on 42 seropositive and 17 seronegativae workers. The observed immediate reactions (20 min) after antigen application in both groups (81 % and 88 % , respectively) were interpreted as nonspecific irritant-toxic reactions. In the group of sensitized persons, we observed an Arthus reaction in 28.6% and a positive reaction after 24 hr in 26.2% of the persons tested. In the seronegative group, no case of Arthus or late reaction was detected.
About 20% of workers complained of cough, dyspnea, expectoration, and shortness of breath; of these, 5 % had suspect signs of allergic alveolitis (AA). The frequency of upper airway symptoms (eg; nasal itching, rhinorrhea, and sneezing) was the same in the seropositive and seronegative groups.
Ventilation, arterial oxygen tension (pOza), residual volume (RV) , slope index (SI), and closing volume (CV) were measured in a mobile laboratory. In general, there were no significant differences in the investigated lung function values between