[Occupational asthma compensation in the Tunisian Center: cross-sectional study over a period of eight years]. / Asthme professionnel indemnisé dans le centre tunisien: étude ransversale sur huit ans.

INTRODUCTION: Our study aimed to highlight the epidemiological profile of patients compensated for occupational asthma in the Tunisian Center, to identify their professional characteristics and to determine compensation practices for this occupational disease. METHODS: We conducted an exhaustive retrospective study over a period of eight years. This case study included workers with occupational asthma diagnosed and compensated in the Tunisian Center by the only two medical commissions empowered to set rates for permanent partial disability caused by either a work-related injury or an occupational diseases in the seven central governorates. RESULTS: A total of 129 workers, with average age of 40.6 ± 7.75 years were compensated for occupational asthma during the study period. Sex ratio was 0.66. The most incriminated etiologic agents were vegetable dust pollution in the textile industry (75.2%), wood dust, flour and isocyanates. Nonspecific bronchial hyperreactivity was found in 38% of cases, a high rate of IgE in 14% of cases and positive skin prick test in 10.9% of cases. The average rate of permanent partial disability was 25.6 ± 14.2%. On the basis of the analytical study, this rate was related to patient's age and to the medical commission which had set this rate. CONCLUSION: This study of workers compensated for occupational asthma provides relevant data about epidemiological and clinical features of diagnosed patients and committee practices in particular, in term of application of the voluntary indicative scale, but it does not allow an assessment of the prevalence of this pathology which is often underestimated.

Occupational allergy in healthcare workers.

Occupational healthcare may expose to various allergens and irritants. Thus, the allergic manifestations in nursing staff are frequent and their prevalence is increasing all over the world. In fact, many new substances continuously appear in the medical practices. These allergic manifestations include a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms such as ocular, nasal and especially bronchial symptoms, which can be isolated or associated. These diseases can be a source of many problems related to the occupational aptitude. All these conditions justify prevention procedure strengthening, which mainly consist in substituting the sensitizing agents, and applying collective and individual prevention measures. This article also refers to some patents on the treatment of allergy.