Suchergebnisse

Women's work has traditionally been considered less hazardous to health in comparison with men's work. The increased women's participation in the workforce has led to an increased attention to women's working conditions. Women and men are unequally represented in individual professions or sectors (horizontal segregation), with women also under-represented in leadership positions (vertical segregation). The selection of specific occupations can result in differences between types and levels of occupational exposures among women and men and can affect prevalence of occupational allergy. Gender distribution of work-related asthma appears to vary across countries without clear global difference. Occupational rhinitis tends to be higher in women, although is not clear if this is related to a sex/gender effect or to differences in work exposure. Women are more likely to have occupational contact dermatitis, mainly due to wet work. No clear effects of gender on rates of hypersensitivity pneumonitis have been shown. Besides variation in exposures, physical and physiological characteristics, different behaviours and health consciousness have an impact on the occupational health hazards of women and men. Occupational allergy health promotion strategies need to consider approaches for women and men adjusted by gender, and legislative actions similarly could be implemented in a more gender-sensitive way.

The detection of occupational allergies is a complex undertaking: A case study According to the recommendations for the diagnosis of occupational asthma, suspected cases require a confirmed asthma diagnosis, work-associated symptoms, evidence of sensitization to an occupational allergen and a close relationship between the occupation and the symptoms. In addition to a detailed medical history, several examinations and tests and a differentiated consideration of them are required in order to arrive at a final expert assessment. We report the case of a 58-year-old butcher who had been complaining of shortness of breath and coughing at his workplace in a slaughterhouse for 5 years. It was only after extensive investigations and a detailed medical history that a powdered kebab spice used in an adjacent room was suspected as the potential allergen. Diagnostic tests showed that the patient was sensitized to the spice. While the specific inhalation challenge (SIC) with kebab spice did not elicit an asthmatic reaction, a non-specific bronchial hyperreactivity in the insured person was observed. On the day after the SIC, the bronchial hyperreactivity was increased by a factor of three and there were further indications of eosinophilic or allergic reaction. In summary, the individual diagnostic components led to the assessment of this case as allergic occupational asthma. This case illustrates that an assessment of the individual diagnostic components in the diagnosis of occupational asthma is quite complex and not without pitfalls. Keywords: occupational asthma – diagnosis – sensitization – bronchial hyperreactivity