The Relationship between the Incidence of Summer-type Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis and Environmental Factors in Southern Tochigi Prefecture

OBJECTIVE: Environmental and climatic changes have been occurring throughout the past 20 years in Japan. Correspondingly, the antigens that cause hypersensitivity pneumonitis might be changing. In an epidemiological survey of Japan in the 1980s, summer-type hypersensitivity pneumonitis (SHP) accounted for 74.4% of the cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The epidemiological characteristics of this disease have not been reported since then. We investigated the annual changes in the number of cases of SHP and the factors affecting the results. METHODS: Cases that were diagnosed as SHP were retrieved from the medical records of our institute between 1990 and 2015. The diagnostic criteria proposed by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 1990 were applied to obtain the definite diagnosis. PATIENTS: The study population included 25 diagnosed patients, including one intrafamilial case. The subjects were predominantly non-smoking women in their 50s and all lived in wooden houses that had been constructed more than 10 years previously. RESULTS: The number of cases that were diagnosed as SHP tended to decrease during the study period. However, temporal increases tended to occur in years with increased rainfall and decreased daylight hours. No relationship appeared to exist between the number of cases and high temperatures or humidity levels. CONCLUSION: The incidence of SHP currently appears to be decreasing; however, the weather conditions in any given year might cause a temporal increase in the incidence rate.