Targeting pupils at risk of occupational asthma.

A cross-sectional study was carried out in pupils attending the last training year from three school sections with high risks of occupational asthma (hairdressing, wood's profession, bakery) and in two groups with lower risks (butcher, salesmen). The analysis concerns a representative sample of 533 pupils in the French-speaking Community of Belgium. Among them, 62.0% in high risk professions of occupational asthma (OA) are conscious of occupational risks related to their work, as were 52.1% of those in professions less at risk (P < 0.05). The difference is also significant when asthma is mentioned as a health problem: 12.6% of the bakers and 14.1% of the hairdressers declared having suffered from asthma and 21.4% of the bakers and 26.7% of the hairdressers reckoned having had wheezing in their chest over the last 12 months. These results report preliminary signs of asthma in pupils before entering in their active life with risk of OA. Primary prevention should include information and redirecting pupils at risk of developing or increasing the disease in their working environment.