[Cheese-packers' disease--respiratory complaints at a cheese-packing dairy]

Twenty-one present and three former employees working in the paching room of a cheese-making dairy underwent clinical examinations including symptom history, smoking habits, chest examination, and pulmonary function tests. Blood samples were drawn to determine level of peripheral eosinophil count and antibodies to microorganisms detected by air samples. Air sample concentrations of Penicillium camemberti var. candidum, used in the cheese-production, were very high (> 6000 colony forming units per cubic metre of air). In 15 of the 24 exposed workers, precipitating antibodies towards this fungus were detected, but no antibodies were detected in a reference consisting of pooled blood from 1000 donors. Of the sixteen workers with airway symptoms five had asthma requiring treatment. Two-thirds of the symptomatic cheeseworkers but only half of those without symptoms had precipitating antibodies. The high frequency of precipitating antibodies together with the clinical causes of the airway symptoms indicates an aetiological relationship between airway symptoms and heavy exposure to Penicillium camemberti.