The authors analyze 74 cases of occupational rhinitis which were diagnosed and notified as an occupational disease in southern Moravia between January 1996 and June 2000. Women account for 63.5% of the group. The median age of the affected subjects at the time of notification of the occupational disease was 33 years, the median exposure to the etiological noxious substance was 60 months. Work in bakeries, animal husbandry and the textile industry predominated. As an occupational agent most frequently flour and cereal dust were recorded. Between the manifestation of the initial symptoms of rhinitis and notification of occupational disease and subsequent elimination of the patient from contact with the etiological agen elapsed 13 months (median). 48.6% probands suffered concurrently from bronchial asthma; bronchial hyperreactivity was detected by a non-specific provocation test in 82.4% of the group.

        Key words: allergy, allergic rhinitis, occupational disease