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Epidemiology of laboratory animal allergy

  • Chapter
Occupational Asthma

Part of the book series: Progress in Inflammation Research ((PIR))

Abstract

Laboratory animal allergy is common and an important occupational health issue for the research, pharmaceutical and toxicological sectors. In most settings where there is regular contact with laboratory animals — chiefly small mammals — the prevalence of specific sensitisation is around 15% and the prevalence of clinical allergy around 10%. These figures probably underestimate the true risk of disease since epidemiological studies of the disease have been beset by response and survivor biases. Allergen exposure appears to be the most important modifiable risk factor, but the effects of such exposure seem to be modified importantly by individual susceptibility. Laboratory animal research shows no signs of becoming less common, and an increasingly susceptible (atopic) population is likely to be recruited into such work. Future studies should be designed to take into account the inherent biases of occupational epidemiology, to study in detail the immunological mechanisms that underlie sensitisation and tolerance, and to identify early biomarkers of each.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, 1b Manresa Road, London, SW3 6LR, UK

    Hayley L. Jeal, Meinir G. Jones & Paul Cullinan

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  1. Hayley L. Jeal
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  2. Meinir G. Jones
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health Dept. of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University, Bartholin Allé 2, 8000, Århus C, Denmark

    Torben Sigsgaard

  2. Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 2, 3508 TD, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Dick Heederik

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Jeal, H.L., Jones, M.G., Cullinan, P. (2010). Epidemiology of laboratory animal allergy. In: Sigsgaard, T., Heederik, D. (eds) Occupational Asthma. Progress in Inflammation Research. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8556-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8556-9_3

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