Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis: A Silent Epidemic?

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), along with interstitial lung disease as a whole, is a disorder with rising incidence, morbidity, and potentially mortality. Herein we review latest updates on epidemiology, environmental exposures, diagnosis, and treatment of this devastating disorder.

Both the American Thoracic Society as well as the American College of Chest Physicians have recently released diagnostic guidelines for HP, offering an opportunity to standardize patient care and research in the coming years. Novel exposures associated with HP highlight its ever-changing epidemiology amidst a world threatened by climate change.

As diagnosis and treatment become more standardized for hypersensitivity pneumonitis, the varied presentations, exposures, and outcomes of the disorder lend itself to future research regarding both novel threats as well as precision approaches to care for patients with this heterogenous and incompletely understood disease.