Bagassosis, an

interstitial lung disease Interstitial lung disease (ILD), or diffuse parenchymal lung disease (DPLD), is a group of respiratory diseases affecting the interstitium (the tissue) and space around the alveoli (air sacs) of the lungs. It concerns alveolar epithelium, pulm ...

, is a type of

hypersensitivity pneumonitis Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) or extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA) is a syndrome caused by the repetitive inhalation of antigens from the environment in susceptible or sensitized people. Common antigens include molds, bacteria, bird droppin ...

attributed to exposure to moldy

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

bagasse Bagasse ( ) is the dry pulpy fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane or sorghum stalks to extract their juice. It is used as a biofuel for the production of heat, energy, and electricity, and in the manufacture of pulp and building ...

dust.

Signs and symptoms

Some symptoms and signs of bagassosis include breathlessness, cough,

haemoptysis Hemoptysis or haemoptysis is the discharge of blood or blood-stained mucus through the mouth coming from the bronchi, larynx, trachea, or lungs. It does not necessarily involve coughing. In other words, it is the airway bleeding. This can occur ...

, and slight fever. Acute diffuse bronchiolitis may also occur. An X-ray may show mottling of lungs or a shadow.

Cause

Bagassosis has been shown to be due to a

thermophilic A thermophile is a type of extremophile that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between . Many thermophiles are archaea, though some of them are bacteria and fungi. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earliest bact ...

actinomycete for which the name ''Thermoactinomycetes sacchari'' was suggested.

Prevention

The following are precautionary measures that can be taken to avoid the spread of bagassosis: # Dust control – prevention/suppression of dust such as wet process, enclosed apparatus, exhaust ventilation etc. should be used # Personal protection – masks/respirators # Medical control – initial medical examination and periodical checkups of workers # Bagasse control – keep moisture content above 20% and spray bagasse with 2%

propionic acid Propionic acid (, from the Greek language, Greek words πρῶτος : ''prōtos'', meaning "first", and πίων : ''píōn'', meaning "fat"; also known as propanoic acid) is a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with chemical formula . It is a ...

Park's textbook of preventive & social medicine 21st edition page-747

History

Bagassosis was first reported in India by Ganguly and Pal in 1955, in a cardboard manufacturing plant near Kolkata. India has a large cane

sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, Sugar refinery, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, about 80% of sugar is extracted from sugar cane, grown predominantly in the tropics, and 20% from sugar beet, ...

. The sugarcane fibre which, until recently, went to waste, is now utilised in the manufacture of cardboard, paper and rayon.

References

External links

{{Respiratory pathology Hypersensitivity pneumonitis