Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Respiratory allergies among veterinarians: two cross-sectional surveys from 2006 to 2012

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Animal-related allergy is known to be an occupational hazard among veterinarians; however, there is a lack of data showing to which extent these are affected. We aimed at describing the prevalence of respiratory allergies in this population.

Methods

In two repeated cross-sectional surveys in 2006 and 2012 in Bavaria, we examined the prevalence of wheezing, asthma and allergic rhinitis by questionnaires. We additionally performed multiple regression analysis to identify associated factors.

Results

Overall participation rate was above 60%, leading to sample sizes of 512 in 2006 and 596 in 2012, respectively. Prevalences of allergic symptoms ranged from 5.1 to 5.6% for asthma, 17.0 to 20.2% for rhinitis, and 11.4 to 14.3% for wheezing, as well as 7.2 to 11.3% for wheezing without having a cold. The percentage of women in this occupation grew between the first and second survey. There were gender differences in both surveys concerning age and practice type (p < 0.0001). Women had a lower mean age (42.1 vs. 53.0 years in 2012) and worked much more often exclusively with small animals (50.2 vs. 15.9% in 2012). There was a borderline significantly higher prevalence for allergic rhinitis in women than in men in 2012 (20.1 vs. 13.7, p = 0.052). Having allergic rhinitis was clearly associated with wheezing, wheezing without cold and asthma.

Conclusions

In a repeated cross-sectional survey at an interval of 6 years among veterinarians, we found a relatively stable overall prevalence of wheeze, wheeze without having a cold, asthma and allergic rhinitis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersen CI, Von Essen SG, Smith LM, Spencer J, Jolie R, Donham KJ (2004) Respiratory symptoms and airway obstruction in swine veterinarians: a persistent problem. Am J Ind Med 46:386–392. doi:10.1002/ajim.20080

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beasley R (1998) Worldwide variation in prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic eczema: ISAAC. Lancet 351:1225–1232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burney PG, Luczynska C, Chinn S, Jarvis D (1994) The European Community Respiratory Health Survey. Eur Respir J 7:954–960

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bush RK (2001) Mechanism and epidemiology of laboratory animal allergy. ILAR J 42:4–11

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cockcroft A, Edwards J, McCarthy P, Andersson N (1981) Allergy in laboratory animal workers. Lancet 1:827–830

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elbers AR, Blaauw PJ, de Vries M, van Gulick PJ, Smithuis OL, Gerrits RP, Tielen MJ (1996) Veterinary practice and occupational health. An epidemiological study of several professional groups of Dutch veterinarians. I. General physical examination and prevalence of allergy, lung function disorders, and bronchial hyperreactivity. Vet Q 18:127–131. doi:10.1080/01652176.1996.9694711

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Janson C et al (2001) The European Community Respiratory Health Survey: what are the main results so far? European Community Respiratory Health Survey II. Eur Respir J 18:598–611

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Langley RL (1995) Health hazards among veterinarians: a survey and review of the literature. J Agromed 2:23–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutsky I, Baum GL, Teichtahl H, Mazar A, Aizer F, Bar-Sela S (1985) Occupational respiratory disease in veterinarians. Ann Allergy 55:153–156

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nienhaus A, Skudlik C, Seidler A (2005) Work-related accidents and occupational diseases in veterinarians and their staff. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 78:230–238. doi:10.1007/s00420-004-0583-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nowak D et al (1996) Prevalence of respiratory symptoms, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and atopy among adults: west and East Germany. Eur Respir J 9:2541–2552. doi:10.1183/09031936.96.09122541

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2015) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Reijula K et al (2003) Work environment and occupational health of Finnish veterinarians. Am J Ind Med 44:46–57. doi:10.1002/ajim.10228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susitaival P, Kirk JH, Schenker MB (2003) Atopic symptoms among California veterinarians. Am J Ind Med 44:166–171. doi:10.1002/ajim.10253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tauscher AE, Belsito DV (2002) Frequency and etiology of hand and forearm dermatoses among veterinarians. Am J Contact Dermat 13:116–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Tielen MJ, Elbers AR, Snijdelaar M, van Gulick PJ, Preller L, Blaauw PJ (1996) Prevalence of self-reported respiratory disease symptoms among veterinarians in the Southern Netherlands. Am J Ind Med 29:201–207. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199602)29:2<201:AID-AJIM11>3.0.CO;2-7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Will LA, Nassif EG, Engen RL, Patterson RA, Zimmerman D (1987) Allergy and pulmonary impairment in Iowa veterinarians. N Engl Reg Allergy Proc 8: 173–177

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational Health, Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Munich, Munich, Germany

    M. Schelkle, R. Jörres & R. Schierl

  2. Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    J. Braun

  3. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, University Hospital Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland

    Holger Dressel

Authors
  1. M. Schelkle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Braun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Jörres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. Schierl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Holger Dressel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Holger Dressel.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 46 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Schelkle, M., Braun, J., Jörres, R. et al. Respiratory allergies among veterinarians: two cross-sectional surveys from 2006 to 2012. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 90, 639–643 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-017-1226-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-017-1226-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation