Bagassosis is due to inhalation of

Appeared in: UPPSC 2022

Explanation

Bagassosis is an occupational lung disease specifically caused by the inhalation of dust from bagasse, the fibrous residue of sugarcane after juice extraction.
It is a form of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which is an immune system disorder affecting the lungs.
The disease is a reaction to the mold, specifically thermophilic actinomycetes like Thermoactinomyces sacchari, that grows on moist, stored bagasse.

Option A: Inhalation of cotton dust causes byssinosis, also known as 'brown lung disease'.
Option C: Inhalation of silica dust causes silicosis, a fibrotic lung disease.
Option D: Inhalation of coal dust causes anthracosis, also known as coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) or 'black lung disease'.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: Knowing Occupational lung diseases and their causative agents helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
Nurses must be skilled in taking a thorough occupational history from patients presenting with respiratory symptoms to identify potential workplace exposures that could be the root cause of their illness.
Patient education on primary prevention is a key nursing role. This includes advising on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks and promoting workplace measures such as dust suppression and proper ventilation.
What if? If a patient with respiratory symptoms reported working in a textile mill instead of a sugar factory, the nurse's primary suspicion should shift from bagassosis to byssinosis, guiding further diagnostic questions.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the key term in the question stem, which is 'Bagassosis'.
Recognize that this is a factual recall question testing your knowledge of specific occupational diseases and their causes.
Access your memory or knowledge base regarding different types of pneumoconiosis (dust-related lung diseases).
Systematically evaluate each option, linking the type of dust to the disease it causes.
Match 'Bagassosis' with its known causative agent, which is sugarcane dust (bagasse).
To confirm your answer, mentally verify that the other options are linked to different diseases (Cotton dust -> Byssinosis, Silica dust -> Silicosis, Coal dust -> Anthracosis).

Concept Tested & Keywords

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E6 Parks TextBook of Preventive & Social Medicine part 2 — Subpart B (pp 233-449 of 464) pp. 124-126, 123-125

Practise the full UPPSC 2022

Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.