[Occupational allergic rhinitis, the situation in Eastern Bohemia 1996-2000]

The information concerning problems of occupational allergic rhinitis is given. The whole problem has been followed mainly since 1996 when the amendment with the List of Occupational Diseases was adopted. The List enables to report the separate allergic rhinitis as occupational disease. The data of an account of 24 patients who were reported occupational allergic rhinitis by means of the Department of Occupational Diseases of University Hospital in Hradec Králové during the years 1996-2000 are presented. The author calls attention to the need of precise diagnostics and mainly to benefit of specific nasal provocation tests when examining occupational etiology of diseases. The most frequently affected occupations were bakers, employees of the agricultural animal and vegetable production, textile workers and health care workers. The most frequent allergens are flour, agricultural animal and vegetable allergens, textile dust, izocyanates and disinfectants. Early diagnostics of occupational rhinitis, followed with re-allocation patients from the primary allergenetic environment is emphasized, with the aim to prevent development of bronchial asthma.