Germany to Recognize
"Multiple Chemical Sensitivity"
Due to Injury and Poisoning
Information from
the
February 2001 Issue
of
"Our Toxic Times"
Germany
is the first country
in the world to list
"Multiple Chemical
Sensitivity"
as a distinct disease entity resulting from injury or poisoning
in its edition of the
World Health Organization's (WHO)
International Classification of
Diseases
(ICD).
ICD codes are
widely used by doctors, researchers, health care
workers, and insurers to classify diseases and compile and
track
health statistics.
Though most countries now use ICD-10, the United States is
still using ICD-9 -- though according to the National
Center
for Health Statistics (NCHS), the United States plans to switch
over in 2002.
The Germans added MCS as an index term in their November
2000 update (ICD-10-SGBV, version 3.1).
"Multiple-chemical-sensitivity-syndrome"
is listed in
the main alphabetical index as well
as under syndromes
and under
"Chemical-Sensitivity-Syndrome
Multiple."
All are referenced to code
"T78.4" in the section on
injuries and poisonings.
T78.4
is a pre-existing code for "Allergie, nicht naher
bezeichnet" (= allergy, not otherwise
specified or NOS).
The German version is published by the
German Institute
for
Medical Documentation and Information,
http://www.dimdi.de.
Note:
The
United States ICD-9
codes
do recognize the
following disease codes (the ICD code is in
parenthesis):
Pesticide
Poisoning
Poisoning
(9**.**) from external cause such as:
pesticides (989.4
from E863.4)
If chemical injury is due to a poisoning, the agent
involved
should be specified (9**), and the type of exposure
specified
(E9**).
Respiratory and Immunological
Allergy (473.*)
Asthma
(493.**, 506.30 if from fumes)
Reactive Airways Dysfunction
Syndrome
(RADS)
Reactive Upper Airway Dysfunction Syndrome
(RUDS)
Gastrointestinal
Gastroenteritis & colitis, toxic
(558.2)
Food Intolerance (579.8)
Neurological
Migraine (346.**)
Neuropathy
(various: peripheral,
poly)
Encephalopathy, Toxic
(349.82)
