The aim of the study is to provide more information about occupational asthma and occupational rhinitis from both the health and also the socio-economic point of view and to emphasize the role of cooperation between generál practitioner and specialist for occupational diseases. Authors present information about modern methods and difficulties of occupational asthma and rhinitis diagnosis and they analyse the development of these diseases in patients examined in the Department of Occupational Diseases of the General Teaching Hos-pital and lst Faculty of Medicíně in Prague over the past 10 years. In 83 patients, the mean exposition time, the duration of difficulties till confirmation of occupational disease, the interval from the elimination from the work exposure till the medical examination, seriousness of disease during repeated examination, treatment and subsequent work grade were monitored. The mean exposition time was 110 months in these patients; duration of difficulties was 26.7 months. On average patients were examined 5.4 months after leaving the workplace with occupational allergens. No correlation was found among the duration of exposition, the duration of health problems and seriousness of the disease. In the comparison of seriousness of health problems before the diagnosis of disease and 34 months after, a statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05) was found. If the group was divided into subgroups according to the molecular weight of the allergen, the duration of exposition and duration of health difficulties were longer in those exposed to high molecular weight allergens (p < 0.05).

        Key words: occupational asthma, occupational rhinitis, immunologic asthma, irritative asthma, challenge tests.