Abstract
In industrialized countries, occupational factors have been implicated in about 10 % of all cases of adult asthma. Occupational asthma includes immunologic asthma, characterized by a latency period before the onset of symptoms, and irritants-induced asthma after usually single exposure to high concentration of irritants.
On the other hand, work-aggravated asthma, which is preexisting asthma exacerbated by workplace exposures is not acknowledged as occupational in the Czech Republic. Diagnosis of occupational asthma should be confirmed early after its onset by objective testing and the worker should be removed from the exposure to causal agent.
The paper describes the diagnostic procedure for occupational asthma including challenge test with allergens from the workplace (in exposure chamber or at the workplace), considered crucial for the verification of the occupational origine of asthma.