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Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/04/2011 03:12 PM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/06/2011 11:49 AM
Expires: 01/01/2016 12:00 AM
:
Op-Ed on Latex Allergies~by Debra L. Scott
On Saturday, I dropped my husband off at the Capitol for a meeting. My Service Dog alerted me that I was at risk. I didn’t feel anything coming on, but rolled up my windows just in case. I turned the corner onto N street and found hundreds of balloons waving happily over the Sacramento Walk To End Alzheimer's event. While I support the ALZ cause, (my mother has Alzheimer’s), the event would have sent me to the hospital if my Service Dog had not alerted me. ...
This is Latex Allergy Awareness Week (October 2-8, 2011). Latex allergy is deadlier than a peanut allergy 1 and more prevalent, 2 yet gets none of the press. It affects about 6% of the population, but 15-18% of health care workers, and others who are around natural rubber /latex frequently. It also affects 78% of children who have had frequent surgeries, like those born with Spina Bifida3.
Latex gloves and balloons are especially deadly because they are made with a type of latex that readily becomes airborne,4 and in food service will stick to the food that is served.5 According to the FDA it takes a particle smaller than a speck of dust (50 micrograms) to set off an anaphylactic reaction.6 Anaphylaxis causes the throat to swell shut and the lungs to shut down, among other things.7 This is why peanuts are often banned in schools; when a child has a peanut allergy, they also are at risk for anaphylaxis from peanut dust. It can kill in seconds.
Peanut allergy is sometimes outgrown by the teen years. Latex allergy is never outgrown, and in fact becomes worse with each exposure. There is no cure, no latex allergy ‘shots’ to desensitize the body (because it would make it worse, not better) and even the available testing is unreliable with a significant history of false results.8 It is often misdiagnosed and inadequately treated; many doctors aren’t even aware that it becomes airborne readily, or that airborne latex dust can cause a reaction. Reactions from latex dust on food cause assumptions of food allergy rather than the true cause. The most important diagnostic tool for a latex allergy is the patient’s history.
Latex Allergy often starts off with an annoying but tolerable local rash. For this reason, most people ignore it, or don’t bother to report it to a qualified allergist. There may also be other symptoms that are not recognized as connected, such as asthma, congestion, stomach cramps, diarrhea, skin redness, swelling, hives and new food allergies. Without warning, the allergy makes a jump to a full body reaction that ranges from an all-over rash, to the throat swelling shut, lung collapse and death.9 Latex has many cross reactions with fruit, vegetables, and house plants. A person who reacts to these foods and plants should always be checked to see if this is Latex-Fruit Syndrome.10
Once it does this, life becomes a living Hell. There are 40,000 everyday products made with natural rubber latex. The world is a mine field of seen and unseen dangers. The most deadly are the ones we can’t see, and can’t prepare for: the balloon display lurking around the corner, the emergency room with latex gloves snapping on and off, the relaxing restaurant meal with latex dust on the delicately broiled salmon… Any one of these will set off a deadly reaction.
More and more latex allergic persons have to wear fully enclosed masks rated for lead paint removal just to walk down the street, or into their favorite store. We buy neoprene gloves to be able to handle a tool or a power cord. We special order our clothes. We are NEVER without our Epi Pens (emergency adrenaline), rescue Inhalers and fast-acting antihistamines.
Three states have banned the use of latex gloves in medical practice and in food service, but not California.11 Cost is not an issue, as latex-free gloves are available at the same price and provide the same barrier protection. Johns Hopkins Hospital has completely banned latex gloves and latex/rubber products throughout its facility. Currently there is a motion before the FDA to ban the use of latex gloves. 12 Sadly, many medical facilities, clinics and hospitals in the Sacramento area do use powdered latex gloves routinely. There is no longer a reason to use latex gloves in any setting.
While some hospitals ban latex balloons, there isn’t any legislative ban. It is such a pervasive cultural symbol of celebration that it is difficult to see this changing anytime soon. But if people become more aware that they are poisoning the air for friends, family and neighbors, perhaps it will become a relic of the past, like second hand smoke. Nevertheless, for public places like stores, severely allergic individuals will find that their condition is supported by the ADA definition of disability,13 and they have a right to be accommodated. Stores that are frequented by allergic individuals should stop the practice of advertising with latex balloons because they create a barrier of access for persons disabled with a latex allergy.
And because this is Halloween month, please also heed the warnings posted for latex allergic ghouls and goblins by station WJLA: "...for some children it's not the candy but the costume that bring on an allergic reaction. Many children are allergic to latex used in masks, face paints and makeup. The symptoms can be mild or severe and include: -itchy, red, watery eyes -rashes or hives -shortness of breath -sneezing, runny nose -severe cases - shock ..." (http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1005/273449.html)
Footnotes:
1.“Considering the 1999 US population of 272 million, the population at risk for anaphylaxis from food is 1099 … from latex is 220...” (note that that is for ALL food allergens, including shellfish, tree nuts and others) http://www.uptodate.com/contents/fatal-anaphylaxis/abstract/8-10?utdPopup=true
2.“It is estimated to affect 0.4-0.6% of the population” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_allergy source quoted is National Institutes of Health, NIAID Allergy Statistics 2005
3.Statistics vary by the year of the published study, and by study parameters. Figures range from 1% to 8% of general population, about 10% of those who handle latex/rubber occupationally, and 15-18% of health care workers. Spina Bifida/multiple surgery statistics vary from 50% to 78%. http://www.acaai.org/allergist/allergies/Types/latex-allergy/Pages/latex-allergies-safe-use.aspx#anchor408950, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latex_allergy . (Wikipedia cites multiple sources) See also AAAAI.org, ACAAI.org,
4.http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/latex-allergy/DS00621/DSECTION=causes.
5.http://www.latexallergyresources.org/articles/are-there-hidden-dangers-food-prepared-latex-gloves
6.“FDA views that an extractable protrein (sic) content of 50 micrograms per gram of glove is sufficiently low enough to cause anaphylactic shock” MSDS 6501, 6502, 6503, 6504 Exam Grade Latex Gloves. Identity: Pre-Powdered Natural Latex Gloves http://secure.terrys.net/%5CMSDS%5Csas%5C6501-6504.PDF
7.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001847/
8.“FDA-approved in vitro tests to measure latex-specific IgE are available … The low specificity of these tests, which have a false-negative rate of at least 20 percent and, thus, unclear positive predictive value, limits clinical usefulness.” http://www.aafp.org/afp/980101ap/reddy.html
9.http://www.acaai.org/allergist/allergies/Types/latex-allergy/Pages/default.aspx
10.http://dmd.nihs.go.jp/latex/cross-e.html
11.http://www.gloveuniversity.com/allergies/regulations.php
12.http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/26184
13.Anaphylaxis affects: sense organs, respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, skin, and other systems
ADA Title 3, section 36.202
Disability means, with respect to an individual, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment.
(1) The phrase physical or mental impairment means --
(i) Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genitourinary; hemic and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine…
(2) The phrase major life activities means functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.
Bio:
Debra L Scott is an eclectic writer of short fiction, children’s fiction, essay, and poetry, with larger works in the hopper. She is also an artist and photographer. She has lived in five countries on four continents, and enjoys traveling with her husband and her medical alert service dog, Watcher, from her home base in Sacramento. Debra is passionate about disability rights and public access accommodation.
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