Occupational asthma

Occupational asthma is the most common occupational respiratory disorder. Exposure to respirable agents at work causes an allergic sensitisation process in the respiratory tract. Initial rhinitis and night cough may progress to patterns of work-related wheezing up to 6 months after starting employment. The absence of symptoms while on holiday or sick leave suggests the diagnosis. Serial peak flow recordings show characteristic patterns, and smoking and atopy have a variable influence on disease.