LATEX - FIFTH LARGEST CAUSE OF ASTHMA
(but this is never mentioned by the mass media)
Allergy to the proteins in natural rubber latex is the fifth largest occupational cause of asthma. Raising this issue is important because for many people once sensitised, their lives are a misery and they have to give up work.”
Sandra Caldwell chaired the Asthma workshop where the keynote speaker was Hans Horst Konkolewsky, Director of the European Safety and Health Agency, in Bilbao, Spain.
Notes to Editors:
1. This year’s European Week for Safety and Health runs from October 13 to 18. It was launched by Department of Work and Pensions Minister, Des Browne, MP, who has responsibility for health and safety, and Bill Callaghan, Chair of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC). Bud Hudspith, a Trade Union Council nominee on the HSC’s Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances demonstrated e-COSHH Essentials at the launch. Aleks Kinay, Chair of the Latex Allergy Support Group, described her own experiences of latex allergy and occupational asthma. Her personal case study is available. More information is also available on Alison Dugmore, a nurse who is now virtually housebound by her allergy.
THE FDA SAYS ONLY 1% OF LATEX DEATHS ARE REPORTED
Delayed contact dermatitis from chemicals in rubber has been recognized since the 1930s.4 But except for rare early reports, clinicians did not appreciate systemic allergic reactions to latex proteins until 1979, when case reports began to appear in Europe. 5
Latex allergy erupted in the United States shortly after the Centers for Disease Control introduced universal precautions in 1987. By late 1992, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received 1133 reports of serious allergic reactions and anaphylaxis occurring to patients and health care staff associated with 30 classes of latex medical devices.
There were 15 patient deaths associated with latex barium enema catheters.5,6
The FDA estimated that the reports represented only 1% of actual occurrences.6
Today, researchers hypothesize that the latex allergy outbreak is the result of multiple factors including deficiencies in manufacturing processes, increased latex exposure, hand care practices, immunological cross reactivity, and changes in latex agricultural practices.1,7,8, 45
Latex allergy affects between 8%-12% of workers in all health disciplines. Latex allergy also affects up to 51% of children with spina bifida, and approximately 1% (to 6% - This article incorrectly quotes the OSHA estimate which read '1% to 6%') of the general population.
http://www.nursingworld.org/readroom/position/workplac/wklatex.htm