WHEAT ALLERGY: IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDY AMONG WORKERS IN MILL INDUSTRY IN BASRAH CITY

This is a comparative study, carried out to involve 160 individuals; 80 individuals with work-related allergic symptoms who were grain industry workers with direct contact to the grain dust, and 80 individuals (control group) were taken from Basrah General Hospital, not suffering from allergic disorders. The first group was divided into two subgroups, including 47 workers in high exposure places to grain dust and 33 workers in low exposure places. ELISA test was performed using locally prepared albumin/globulin extract to detect wheat specific IgE. The results showed that 70% of individuals with work-related allergic symptoms had allergy in comparison to nil among control group. The study also showed that the highest rate of positive ELISA result was observed in 80.8 % of individuals with workrelated allergic symptoms working in highly exposed places to grain dust, compared to only 54.5 % among those working in low exposed places. The study revealed a highly significant association between specific allergy and years of service. The presence of respiratory symptoms was higher among workers in highly exposed places, followed by skin and conjunctival symptoms.