title: Prevalence and diagnosis of laboratory animal allergy.
abstract: A survey of the prevalence of laboratory animal allergy to rats, mice, guinea pigs and rabbits among sixty-nine animal workers and 308 other subjects on a pharmaceutical research site revealed a 22% prevalence of laboratory animal allergy among the animal workers. The overall prevalence of atopy was 67% in persons with allergy to laboratory animals. This was significantly greater than the 31% prevalence in other animal workers. Skin-prick tests and specific IgG and IgE assays to urinary protein extracts strongly correlated with the occurrence of laboratory-animal allergy and would appear to have diagnostic value. However, a number of clinically diagnosed laboratory-animal-allergy subjects gave no evidence of immunological response to the urinary allergens and wider diagnoses may have to be applied in these cases.
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D004345:Drug Industry; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000175:diagnosis; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000032:analysis; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D051379:Mice; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011817:Rabbits; D011852:Radioallergosorbent Test; D051381:Rats; D012108:Research Personnel; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007073:Immunoglobulin E