title: [Occupational asthma].
abstract: Occupational bronchial asthma is a diagnostic, therapeutic and public health problem. The central clue for a proper diagnosis is to consider the problem when evaluating every patient with adult onset asthma. An objective confirmation is mandatory because clinical history often gives rise to many false positive cases. Avoidance of contact with the causative agent usually requires the change of work activity which results in an income decrease or unemployment. Despite many efforts in industrial hygiene, recent data shows asthma as the most prevalent cause in the Western world of occupational respiratory disease during working life. The challenge, from an occupational public health standpoint is to create the appropriate industrial hygiene conditions to reduce the burden of worker's exposure to allergens.
authors.affiliation: Sección de inmunología y alergia, Hospital Nacional Alejandro Posadas, El Palomar, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. ejares@fibertel.com.ar
authors.forename: Edgardo J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Jares
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control