Sensitisation profiles of workers exposed to bakery flours

Respiratory allergic disease among workers exposed to bakery flour dust is common and atopy is an important risk factor in the development of disease. Currently, a skin-prick test is still an important diagnostic test for allergic sensitisation to bakery flour allergens. In this study, the sensitisation profiles of 144 workers were analysed; the workers had been skin prick-tested with bakery flour allergens and ten aeroallergens from years 2002 to August 2019. Seventy-three percent of them were sensitised to at least one of the six flour allergens tested: sensitisation to wheat was highest among them, followed by rye. Of the aeroallergens tested, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (house-dust mite) displayed the highest sensitisation, followed by Bermuda grass. A significantly strong correlation was observed between wheat and rye flour sensitisation and also between oats and soya flour sensitisation. In this study, skin-prick testing was shown to be an integral diagnostic method in determining bakery flour sensitisation among exposed workers. Atopy was shown to be a significant risk factor for the development of sensitisation among the workers.