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Latex Allergy - Part 3

© Colleen Kaemmerer

I've received several e-mails in regard to latex allergy. Here are some of the experiences that people have shared with me:

• A medical rep in the UK has Type I latex allergy. Her face becomes flushed and she exhibits asthma symptoms with even indirect exposure, such as going into areas (in the course of her job) where powdered gloves are used. She has also had reactions to household gloves and suspects that that she has had two reactions due to her food being handled by servers wearing latex gloves.

• One mom who wrote just found out that her 2 year old is allergic to latex. He also suffers from environmental allergies.

• Another mom wrote about her son who has a life-threatening peanut allergy. In the past, he has often played with balloons. After a week of eating bananas daily, he said one morning that he felt "itchy". Later that morning, the mother noticed that his hands were very red, slightly swollen, and the redness was going up his arms. She found out that he had been playing with a balloon earlier that day. He received an antihistamine and was examined by a doctor. He is going to be tested for allergies. (Obviously, many people eat bananas frequently. This is just one person's story. However, bananas are cross-reactive with latex.)

• One nurse wrote: "...Our unit was remodeled and in the process, several nurses became latex intolerant. The particles were always there, but tearing down walls, etc. sent them all over the atmosphere, because there was little precaution taken to shield the area from dust. Anyway, one of the nurses will experience extreme respiratory distress when exposed to latex; in fact, we were able to conclude some latex balloons had come up onto our floor just from her breathing..."

• An artist said that she was not allergic to latex, but she uses it often. She and fellow art students wear gloves when handling certain substances. Quite a few of the art majors that she knows have mild reactions to latex.

• One teacher wrote to me about a co-worker who is latex allergic. They do not allow balloons in the classroom. Once, when the school had a science fair, the co-worker could not attend because balloons were used in some of the experiments.

I would also like to suggest some additional latex-related web sites:

The American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology offers a good synopsis on latex allergy at http://allergy.mcg.edu/advice/latex.html The ACAAI also has another link, the Latex Allergy Home Page. It is designed for physicians, but has more detailed information useful to both medical professionals and the public.

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