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Respiratory syndrome very similar to extrinsic allergic alveolitis due to Penicillium verrucosum in workers in a cheese factory

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Abstract

A respiratory syndrome very similar to extrinsic allergic alveolitis due to Penicillium verrucosum was recognized in 4 workers employed in a Gorgonzola cheese factory. A mycogen allergy to P. verrucosum, used as starter in the production, was demonstrated by positive sputum culture and detection of specific antibodies in the blood. Intense and prolonged exposure to inhalation of fungal spores could have lead to the development of this allergic response. The fact that 2 of the subjects are siblings seems to indicate host susceptibility or immunological constitution in the pathogenesis of the respiratory allergy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ecologia del Territorio e degli Ambienti Terrestri, Sezione di Micologia, Universitá degli Studi di Pavia, Via S. Epifanio 14, 27100, Pavia, Italia

    Maria Guglielminetti, Pamela Cassini & Giuseppe Caretta

  2. Servizio Prevenzione e Controllo Medico, Centro Medico di Pavia, Fondazione “S. Maugeri”, Clinica del Lavoro e della Riabilitazione, S. Boezio 24, 27100, Pavia, Italia

    Elio Valoti & Giuseppe Taino

Authors
  1. Maria Guglielminetti
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  2. Elio Valoti
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  3. Pamela Cassini
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  4. Giuseppe Taino
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  5. Giuseppe Caretta
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Guglielminetti, M., Valoti, E., Cassini, P. et al. Respiratory syndrome very similar to extrinsic allergic alveolitis due to Penicillium verrucosum in workers in a cheese factory. Mycopathologia 149, 123–129 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007293109657

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