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Natural rubber latex allergy
Author(s) -
Turjanmaa K.,
Alenius H.,
MäkinenKiljunen S.,
Reunala T.,
Palosuo T.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.363
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1398-9995
pISSN - 0105-4538
DOI - 10.1111/j.1398-9995.1996.tb04678.x
Subject(s) - allergy , natural rubber , latex allergy , medicine , immunology , dermatology , materials science , composite material
The history of natural rubber latex (NRL) allergy is relatively short; the first case reports appeared in 1979-80 in the European (1, 2) and in 1989 in the North American literature (3-5). During the last 10 years, NRL allergy has been acknowledged as a major occupational problem among glovewearing health-care workers. In addition, several authors have noted that NRL allergy also occurs frequently outside the health-care environment. Populations at increased risk include not only glove-wearing kitchen workers and housekeeping personnel (6-8) but also children who may exhibit allergic reactions when blowing up balloons (9, 10). Even patients allergic to various fruits, such as banana and avocado, may experience allergic reactions from NRL and vice versa (11-14). The wide spectrum of symptoms of NRL allergy range from mild contact urticaria to asthma and anaphylactic reactions (3, 15-17). Severe allergic reactions are frequently reported to occur intraoperatively in children with spina bifida (18, 19). It has recently been emphasized that NRL allergens become easily airborne with glove powder and that persons sensitized to NRL may also suffer from occupational asthma (20-23). The presence of specific IgE in NRL-allergic patients may be verified by skin prick tests (SPT) or by serologic methods such as RAST (24-27). The limited knowledge of the relevant NRL allerK. Turjanmaa', H. Alenius', S. Makinen-Kiljuned, T. R e ~ n a l a ~ , ~ , T. Palosuo'