Table 6
Comparison of the diseases of the compost workers with increased specific IgG concentrations against actinomycetes and moulds after correction for confounding bioaerosol exposures (antibody concentrations were considered to be increased when optical density exceeded 3 SD of the mean of the control subjects for actinomycetes and for fungi at titres ⩾1:1024)
| Subjects with increased specific IgG antibodies to | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actinomycetes | Moulds | Both | Total | p Value | |
| Diseases of airways (n=11) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0.03 |
| Diseases of skin (n=7) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0.02 |
| Both (n=18) | 5 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0.006 |
| No diseases (n=33) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
-
p Values are calculated from the total numbers of compost workers with increased specific IgG antibodiesv healthy compost workers with Fisher's exact test, two sided.
