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Occupational allergic diseases are likely to worsen or become intractable as a result of continuous exposure to high concentrations of causative allergens. These are socioeconomically important diseases that can lead to work interruptions for patients and potentially job loss. We published the first guideline for managing occupational allergic diseases in Japan. The original document was published in Japanese in 2013, and the following year (2014) it was published in English. This guideline consists of six chapters about occupational asthma, occupational allergic rhinitis, occupational skin diseases, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, occupational anaphylaxis shock, and the legal aspects of these diseases. Providing general doctors with the knowledge to make evidence-based diagnoses and to understand the occupational allergic disease treatment policies, was a breakthrough in allergic disease treatment.

In 2013, a guideline for occupational allergic diseases was published for the first time in Japan. Occupational allergic diseases are likely to worsen or become intractable as a result of continuous exposure to high concentrations of causative antigens, and are socioeconomically important diseases with which the patients might sometimes lose jobs due to work interruptions. Guidelines for occupational allergic diseases have been published in many countries. This guideline consists of six chapters about occupational asthma, occupational allergic rhinitis, occupational skin diseases, hypersensitivity pneumonitis and occupational anaphylaxis shock, and legal aspects of these diseases. The guideline is characterized with the following basic structure: Clinical Questions (CQs) are set with reference to Minds (Medical Information Network Distribution Service), statements by the committee are correspondingly listed, recommended grades and evidence levels are defined, and then descriptions and references are indicated.

Impairments in taste perception may be caused by a number of factors, including the presence of Candida albicansin the oral cavity. We attempted to establish whether the presence of Candida albicanson the tongue is a cause of taste disorders by studying taste disorders in patients with candidosis of the tongue and in healthy “carriers” and “non‐carriers” of C. albicans.Taste disorders and their severity were objectively assessed by the filter‐paper disk method in 18 patients with candidosis of the tongue and in 33 healthy “carriers” and 167 healthy “non‐carriers” of C. albicans.The gustatory function was re‐tested in 7 patients and 8 “carriers” after treatment with topical anti‐mycotic medication to detect any improvement. Patients with candidosis of the tongue and “carriers” of C. albicansdemonstrated significantly higher incidences (p<0.001) of taste disorders than did “non‐carriers”. The mean taste threshold of each of the four individual taste qualities was significantly higher in patients with candidosis than in “non‐carriers”. The average taste threshold was significantly higher in “carriers” than in “non‐carriers”. Post‐treatment improvement or recovery from taste disorders was obtained in 5 out of 7 patients (71.4%) with candidosis and in 7 out of 8 “carriers” (87.5%) of C. albicans.This study clearly demonstrates that not only overt candidosis of the tongue but also commensal harboring of ***C. albicansis a cause of taste disorders.