Dear Editor,

As described in this investigation only a minority workers with an occupational asthma due to a diisocyanate exposure have specific IgE antibodies towards the monomers (1).

Therefore, it is likely the host factors play an important role (2). However, their significance may not be so firm so as to be used as predictors of a disease. The concept is, however, important in the workers´ compensation cases if only those with specific antibodies or positive provocation test results outside the work place are accepted as valid cases.

1 Savolainen H. New mechanistic model for organic diisocyanate- induced respiratory disease. Schweiz Med Wochenschr 1999; 129: 465-7.

2 Berode M, Jost M, Ruegger M, Savolainen H. Host factors in occupational diisocyanate asthma: a Swiss longitudinal study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2005; 158-163.