Evidence map›Paper›PMID 8777446›Full record

ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine1996

Sump bay fever: inhalational fever associated with a biologically contaminated water aerosol.

K Anderson, C P McSharry, C Clark, C J Clark, G R Barclay, G P Morris

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Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 1996. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

K AndersonDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Western Infirmary, Glasgow.
C P McSharry
C Clark
C J Clark
G R Barclay
G P Morris
Western Infirmary · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo investigate the clinical, serological, and environmental features of a work related inhalational fever associated with exposure to an aerosol generated from a biologically contaminated 130,000 gallon water pool in a building used for testing scientific equipment.

methodCross sectional survey of all exposed subjects (n = 83) by symptom questionnaire, clinical examination, spirometry, and serology for antibody to Pseudomonads, pool water extract, and endotoxin. In symptomatic patients diffusion capacity was measured, and chest radiology was performed if this was abnormal. Serial peak flow was recorded in those subjects with wheeze. Bacterial and fungal air sampling was performed before and during operation of the water pool pump mechanism. Endotoxin was measured in the trapped waters and in the pumps. Serum cotinine was measured as an objective indicator of smoking.

resultsOf the 20 symptomatic subjects, fever was most common in those with the highest exposure (chi 2 42.7, P < 0.001) in the sump bay when the water was (torrentially) recirculated by the water pumps. Symptoms occurred late in the working day only on days when the water pumps were used, and were independent of the serum cotinine. Pulmonary function was normal in most subjects (spirometry was normal in 79/83, diffusion capacity was low in five subjects, chest radiology was normal). Peak flow recording did not suggest a work relation. The bacterial content of the aerosol rose from 6 to > 10,000 colony forming units per cubic metre (cfu/m3) (predominantly environmental Pseudomonads) when the pumps were operating. High endotoxin concentrations were measured in the waters and oil sumps in the pumps. Low concentrations of antibody to the organisms isolated were detected (apart from two subjects with high antibody) but there was no relation to exposure or the presence of symptoms and similar antibody was found in the serum samples from a non-exposed population. The fever symptoms settled completely with the simple expedient of changing the water and cleaning the pumps.

conclusionGiven the results of our study, the development of inhalational fever in this unique environment and clearly restricted cohort was closely related to the degree of exposure to contaminated aerosol and mainly occurred in the absence of distinct serological abnormality and independent of cigarette smoking.

Indexed as

PseudomonasWater PollutionAdultAerosolsAlveolitis, Extrinsic AllergicAntibodies, BacterialCross-Sectional StudiesDisease OutbreaksEndotoxinsFemaleFeverHumansMaleMiddle AgedOccupational DiseasesWater MicrobiologyAerosolsAntibodies, BacterialEndotoxins

Identifiers

PMID8777446
PMCPMC1128422
OpenAlexW2158250839

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.