Reference

BOHRF Original Authors' Main Conclusions

The original authors' main conclusions are taken from Abstract, Results and Discussion. They are decided upon by the authors of the BOHRF occupational asthma guidelines and form part of the guidelines.

Study aimed to evaluate the clinical validation of skin prick tests (SPT) and measurement of specific IgE to vinyl sulphone reactive dyes by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). 42 patients with occupational asthma from reactive dyes, 93 asymptomatic factory workers and 16 unexposed controls were enrolled. None of the unexposed controls had a positive response to SPTs. The sensitivity (76.2% v 53.7%), specificity (91.4% v 86.0%), positive predictive value (80.0% v 62.9%), and negative predictive value (89.5% v 80.8%) of SPTs were higher than those of ELISAs. In 4 patients with occupational asthma from reactive dyes and 8 control subjects exposed to reactive dye, IgE specific to reactive dye conjugated to human serum albumin was detected with ELISA even though they showed negative skin reactivity. 6 patients completely avoided the reactive dye for a mean (SD) 27.8 (10.3) months, IgE specific to reactive dyes decreased in all six patients during this time. Authors conclude that both SPTs and detection of IgE specific to reactive dye in serum samples could be valuable for screening, diagnosis, and monitoring occupational asthma resulting from exposure to reactive dyes. These two tests would complement each other.

BOHRF Associated Evidence Statements

The BOHRF occupational asthma guidelines state that this reference is associated with the following evidence statements