| Autor: |
Venables, KM, Davidson, AC, Barker, RD, Cannon, J, Cook, A, Fitzgerald, B, Tee, RD, Wallis, D, Welch, J |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2016 |
| Popis: |
There was an epidemic of asthma in England on the night of Friday 24-25 June 1994 after a major thunderstorm. About 1,000 excess asthma attacks presented to AandE and about 1,500 to general practice. Such epidemics have been noted previously but the environmental and personal determinants are obscure. Suggested factors include allergy to fungal spores or to pollens. We carried out a case control study in North East London, an area severely affected by the epidemic. Cases (102) were patients presenting with asthma to Newham General Hospital AandE department between 1800 BST 24 June and 2400 BST on 25 June. Controls (88) were patients presenting with asthma at other times that summer. 68 cases and 30 controls were interviewed and 34 cases and 13 controls gave blood. Two-thirds of the cases were young adults aged 20-39 whereas controls had a wider age distribution. More cases than controls reported a history of hayfever (90% vs 63%) but fewer reported asthma (32% vs 63%) or taking medication for breathing. All cases had detectable specific IgE against mixed grass pollen (Pharmacia CAP) and 91% had very high values; it was undetectable in 31% of controls and only 38% had very high values. There were no important differences between cases and controls for total IgE, specific IgE against mixed moulds, and specific IgE against house dust mite. This study supports a role for grass pollen in this epidemic of thunderstorm-related asthma. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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