Laboratory animal workers are at high risk of developing occupational allergy. Little is known about the relationship between levels of exposure and the risk of developing laboratory animal allergy. A cross-sectional study was performed in 540 workers at eight facilities to quantify the exposure-response relationship for allergy to rats while controlling for determinants like atopy, gender, and smoking. All participants completed a questionnaire, underwent skin prick testing with common and occupa- Tional allergens, and total lgE as well as occupational allergen-specific lgE antibodies were serologi- Cally measured.
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