[Sensitivity to animals' allergens in people working with animals]

Animals with fur or feathers can induce IgE-mediated reactions. From 10 to 30% of workers in laboratory animals may develop allergic symptoms by exposing to them.

To determine the frequency of sensitization to animal allergens extracts in workers of the Bioterio of the Autonomous University of Puebla.

It is an observational, transversal and descriptive study, 29 subjects with animal-related professional activities were included. We performed a standardized clinical history and applied skin prick tests with allergen extracts of rat, mouse, guinea pig, rabbit, hamster, dog, cat, cattle, goat and horse hair.

Twenty-nine subjects were included in the study, mean age 32.3 years, male predominance (82.8%) and years of work 6.3. Laboratory animal workers were exposed mostly to dogs (83%). Nearly half of the workers reported clinical manifestations at work. Sixty-two percent of them had at least one positive skin test to animal allergen extracts. No statistically significant association between history of atopy, seniority, clinical manifestations and positive skin tests to any allergen extract was found.

The majority of animal laboratory workers was found allergic to animal allergens. No statistically significant association was present between the clinical manifestations, hypersensitivity to any animal allergen extract, seniority and history of atopy. Therefore, we recommend monitoring of animal allergy for an early detection and proper treatment in laboratory animal workers.