Comparison of the diseases of the compost workers with increased specific IgG concentrations against actinomycetes and moulds (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=14) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0.02 |
| Diseases of skin (n=8) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0.03 |
| Both (n=22) | 7 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 0.004 |
| No diseases (n=36) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | |
p Values were calculated from the total numbers of compost workers with increased specific IgG antibodiesv healthy compost workers with Fisher's exact test, two sided.