[A study on dose-response relationship of occupational allergy in a pharmaceutical plant]

The dose-response relationship between the frequencies or concentration of exposure to powdered drug allergens and drug induced allergic onsets was studied in a pharmaceutical plant for 15 years from 1974 to 1984. The subjects were 41 male workers and the target allergens were two kinds of anti-inflammatory enzymes (Bromelain and Trypsin) and three kinds of antibiotics (Ampicillin, Amoxycillin and Cephalexin). The allergic onsets were confirmed by periodic allergological examinations and occasional clinical findings. Statistical analysis was made by the person-year method. The results showed that in workers who had any allergic history, the incidence rates of allergic onsets increased with elevation in the frequencies or concentration of exposure to these allergens, while in the cases without such history, the incidence rates increased only in those with high frequencies of exposure to the allergens. The findings suggest that the incidence rates of occupational drug allergy were dependent on the frequencies and concentration of exposure to allergens.