Latex allergy in health care workers: prevalence and knowledge at a tertiary teaching hospital in a developing country

Ismail, Nazir; Hoosen, Anwar A.; Mehtar, Shaheen

doi:10.3396/ijic.v6i1.004.10

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Among the 59 participants who met the inclusion criteria (symptoms due to using latex gloves), 12/45 (26.7%) tested positive for latex sensitisation by ImmunoCAP or SPT. The findings are comparable to those of studies conducted at Dr George Mukhari Hospital (Pretoria) (22%) [9] and Groote Schuur Hospital (Cape Town) (25.3%). [6] Our latex allergy prevalence of 8.3% is higher than the 4.2% at the Dr George Mukhari Hospital, which is our sister hospital.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…[6] Our latex allergy prevalence of 8.3% is higher than the 4.2% at the Dr George Mukhari Hospital, which is our sister hospital. [9] This difference can partly be explained by the fact that in the latter study only the ImmunoCAP test was performed, with no SPT follow-up. We calculated our prevalence with only the ImmunoCAP without an SPT result in the participants with negative blood tests and found a prevalence of 4.9% (7/144), similar to that of the Dr George Mukhari study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Latex allergy and its clinical features among healthcare workers at Mankweng Hospital, Limpopo Province, South Africa

et al. 2013

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Background and objectives. Latex allergy, caused by sensitisation in atopic individuals, is a common occupational disease among healthcare workers who use latex gloves. It may be present in non-atopic individuals as well. The main objective of this study was to document the prevalence and disease spectrum of latex allergy at Mankweng Hospital, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The secondary objective was to determine clinical presentation of the disease. Methods. A cross-sectional descriptive study, with an analytical component, was conducted among healthcare workers who worked in high-risk areas for latex sensitisation. ImmunoCAP testing was performed and followed by a skin-prick test (SPT) in those who tested negative to the blood test. Results. Two hundred screening questionnaires were distributed to healthcare workers at the hospital. Of these 158 (79.0%) were returned, with 59 participants meeting the inclusion criteria (experiencing symptoms due to wearing latex gloves). The mean age of the participants was 39.6 years (standard deviation 9.8 years, range 20 -60 years). There were more females (98.1%) than males (1.9%). Glove-related symptoms were present in 59 subjects (37.1%), in 7 (11.9%) of whom the ImmunoCAP was positive to latex (95% confidence interval 4.2 -22.9%). Fourteen participants were lost to follow-up before the SPT was performed. Thirty-eight of the participants with negative ImmunoCAP tests underwent SPT. Positive SPTs were reported in 5 of these 38 workers (13.2%), indicating that the ImmunoCAP test missed 11.1% (5/45) of latex-allergic individuals. The prevalence of latex allergy in this study was 8.3% (12/144). A denominator of 144 was used, as there is a possibility that some of the 14 individuals lost to follow-up could have tested positive to latex sensitisation by SPT. The symptoms experienced by latex-sensitised workers were rhinitis (100.0%), asthma (50.0%), dermatitis (25.0%), severe anaphylaxis (8.3%), abdominal pain (8.3%) and angio-oedema (8.3%). Conclusion. Our findings reveal that latex allergy is a problem at our hospital. The prevalence of 8.3% is comparable to findings in other South African centres. We recommend a latex-free protocol for high-risk areas and healthcare workers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%