Do farming exposures cause or prevent asthma?
【关键词】 ,farming;,asthma;,atopy;,endotoxins;,fungal,spores 1 National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway 2 Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands 3 Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand 4 Institute of Medicine, University of Bergen, Norway Correspondence to: Dr W Eduard National Institute of Occupational Health, P O Box 8149 Dep, 0033 Oslo, Norway; wijnand.eduard@stami.no Received 18 July 2003 Accepted for publication 26 January 2004 ABSTRACT Background: A protective effect of endotoxin exposure on atopy and asthma in farmers’ children has been postulated. Studies of adult farmers have shown conflicting results but often lack exposure data. The prevalence of asthma in farmers with different exposure levels to microbial agents and irritant gases was compared. Methods: Atopy was defined as a positive response to multiple radioallergosorbent tests (RAST) with a panel of 10 common respiratory allergens
