Humidifier Disinfectant-associated Interstitial Lung Disease in an Animal Model Induced by Polyhexamethylene Guanidine Aerosol

摘要

In April 2011, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention performed an epidemiologic investigation on an outbreak of fatal lung injury of unknown etiology that occurred in pregnant, postpartum women and their children. At first glance, the possibility of a virus causing the severe lung injury was proposed. However, several facts arose that indicated the cause of the severe lung injury might be an environmental exposure at the subjects' residence. First, most patients were perinatal women who spent much of their time at home. Second, this disease occurred simultaneously in the children who were members of their family. Third, the lung injury intensified in the spring, especially following the first winter after the 2009 influenza pandemic. Although the patients' habitation, job, and medication history were not remarkable, patients frequently used a humidifier disinfectant (HD) throughout the winter. Recently, several authors have reported that HDs were associated with children's interstitial lung disease or with fatal lung disease in adults.