The association of oil ingestion with toxic oil syndrome in two convents.

The authors studied the pattern of occurrence of toxic oil syndrome, a previously undescribed disease that occurred in Spain in epidemic form in 1981, in two convents in Madrid. In one convent, the disease affected 66% of 35 novices and nuns who ingested oil from a suspect source, but none of 56 laywomen who ate the same meals but used a different type of oil. In the second convent, in which nuns were also exposed but laywomen were not, 98% of 43 nuns developed toxic oil syndrome compared with none of 70 laywomen. These findings support the hypothesis that a food oil transmitted the etiologic agent of toxic oil syndrome.