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Volume 3 Issue 239 Published - 14:00 UTC 08:00 EST 1-Dec-2001 Next Update - 14:00 UTC 08:00 EST 2-Dec-2001
| Editor: Susan K. Boyer, RN © RAmEx Ars Medica, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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 Allergy Risk Increased By Home Use Of Kerosene
The use of refined fossil fuels, especially kerosene, for cooking and heating increased individual risk of allergy as well as of the symptoms of allergic disease, according to a study performed in Jimma, Ethiopia. The British-led research team believes that exposure to these combustion pollutants could play a major role in the emergence of allergic disease in both developing and developed countries. They identified a strong positive association between allergic skin sensitization and allergic symptoms associated with modern fuels for cooking and heating, especially kerosene use, among the 959 person studies. The researchers' data came from a systematic survey of households in Jimma town and in three remote rural communities in Jimma district. An interviewer administered a questionnaire to all members of the household in a systematic sample from a random starting point. These answers provided data on demography, respiratory and allergic disease symptoms, housing, and various lifestyle variables. Residents of every fourth household were given allergic skin sensitivity tests. The primary outcome variable for this study was allergic skin sensitization as shown by a skin wheal response to the test. The secondary outcomes were questionnaire responses reporting wheezing during the past year, rhinitis symptoms, and eczema symptoms ever and within the past year. The research appears in the first of two issues for November of the American Thoracic Society peer-reviewed American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. |
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