THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609070042
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARK EMMONS, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
LENGTH: 153 lines
IT'S EVERYWHERE. In rubber bands. Shoes. Carpet backing. Condoms. Erasers. Pacifiers. Underwear. The buttons on the television remote control. Even those irresistible Koosh balls.
In operating rooms and doctor's offices, it's in everything from masks to bandages to protective gloves. Tiny particles can even drift, unseen, through the air and be inhaled into the lungs.
Latex - natural rubber - has become ubiquitous in our daily lives because of its strength and elasticity. It is virtually impossible to avoid. Yet that's exactly what Steven Wiley must do. For him, latex has another quality:
It can kill.
Just as some people are allergic to bee stings or penicillin, Wiley can lapse into anaphylactic shock - a life-threatening reaction that includes blocked airways and plunging blood pressure - when exposed to latex.
He has worked as a professional magician and clown. Today, Wiley says, he can't even attend a circus with his kids because if a balloon were to pop nearby, releasing microscopic particles of latex, ``I would be in serious trouble.''
If his children want toys that contain latex, Wiley must say no. Before he leaves for a restaurant, he must call ahead to scout the location for potential trouble. Just being in a hospital can be a deadly proposition. That's why, even though he has a broken hip, doctors keep putting off the operation that he requires.
``They don't really want to do the surgery because of the latex problem,'' explained Wiley, who lives in Oak Park, Mich. ``My life has been turned upside down.''
While his case is extreme, Wiley is hardly alone. Studies have shown a dramatic increase in the number of people who are latex-sensitive. The allergy is particularly common among health-care workers because of their constant exposure to it in medical products. For them, a latex allergy can be a career-ending ailment.
The problem has become so widespread that the Food and Drug Administration is considering mandatory warnings on medical products that contain latex. And last month, the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology launched a campaign to raise awareness of the problem among the public and within health care.
``My impression is that there are pockets of people who have no idea about this,'' said Dr. Michele Pearson, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. ``I get calls from people who seek a medical evaluation and are told by doctors: `I just don't believe that this exists.' ''
Dr. Dennis Ownby, director of the Henry Ford Health System's allergy research laboratory and a nationally recognized authority on latex, is aware of the naysayers. But in a recently published study of 1,000 anonymous blood donors in southeastern Michigan, he found that 6.4 percent of those serum samples tested positive for the antibodies associated with latex allergy. That percentage was far higher than anyone had documented before in the general population.
``I've become convinced that this is not a rare event anymore,'' said Ownby, who believes that among health-care workers sensitivity rates are probably closer to 10 percent. ``It's hard to tell if these have been happening all along and we've been just not recognizing what they were, or if this is a brand-new problem that only started in the late 1980s.''
Pearson said the scope of the problem isn't clearly understood because latex sensitivity often is misdiagnosed and confused with more common allergies. But various studies of health-care workers have shown that 5 to 22 percent of them are affected.
What's known is this: Latex allergies can cause reactions ranging from contact dermatitis - itching, swelling and redness of the skin - to hives, asthma or full-blown anaphylactic shock in severe cases.
And the greater the exposure to latex, the greater the chance that someone genetically predisposed to the allergy will suffer increasingly severe symptoms over time. That's why health-care workers and people who have undergone numerous medical procedures seem to be most prone to problems.
Because latex is so pervasive, people with the allergy say they feel as though they must live in a bubble, avoiding things they sometimes can't even see. The insidious nature of the allergy is that you don't have to touch latex to have a reaction: The allergen - actually a protein in latex - can become airborne.
Winds can blow it from highways, where the road surface wears the latex out of tires.
A bursting balloon can send out a shower of the allergens, borne on the powder that keeps its insides from sticking together.
Likewise, every time someone changes gloves in a doctor's office, the cornstarch that lines the gloves drifts out into the room, carrying a load of the culprit protein.
The CDC's Pearson said efforts were under way to figure out how to reduce the protein level in latex and improve synthetic alternatives. But there is no simple answer for those with the allergy, Pearson adds, other than trying to avoid latex.
There's a money issue, too. Ownby said a large hospital might buy 2 million to 4 million pair of gloves a year. A standard pair of latex gloves might cost 50 cents, while synthetic gloves can run near $2.
``So you're beginning to talk about real dollars,'' he added. MEMO: EVERYDAY LATEX
The following everyday items contain latex:
disposable diapers
hand grips on racquets and tools
catheters
bandages
elastic linings in clothes
hot water bottles
tires
rubber gloves
scratch-off portion of lottery tickets
implants
anesthesia masks
balloons
shoes
mouth guards
rubber toys
diaphragms
eye-dropper bulbs
carpet backing
blood pressure cuffs
baby bottle nipples
syringe stoppers
buttons on calculators and TV remotes
- Knight-Ridder News Service
THE FACTS ON LATEX
Who is at risk?
People who use latex in their jobs. Health-care workers have about a
1-in-10 chance of developing sensitivity, says Dr. Dennis Ownby of the
Henry Ford Health System.
People frequently exposed to latex in medical procedures. More than
50 percent of people with spina bifida have latex allergies, studies
have shown.
People allergic to certain foods - including bananas, avocados,
peaches, cherries and chestnuts - are more likely than others to be
latex-sensitive.
Warning signs
Any swelling, itching or redness after contact with rubber products.
Any breathing problems after latex exposure, such as blowing up a
balloon.
Treatments
Topical creams will treat rashes, and over-the-counter and
prescription antihistamines and decongestants may relieve milder
symptoms.
If you have a severe sensitivity, carry an EpiPen, which delivers a
dose of epinephrine, for self-injection in case of unexpected exposure.
Wear a Medic-Alert identification bracelet to alert medical personnel of
your allergy.
Advice
For a pamphlet called ``The ABC's of Latex Allergy,'' send a stamped,
self-addressed, business-size envelope to Department of Allergy, Henry
Ford Health System, 1 Ford Place, Detroit, Mich. 48202. Or call (313)
876-2662, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays.
A Web support group is ELASTIC (Education for Latex Allergies Support
Team and Information Coalition). Its Web address is
http://www.latexallergyhelp.com. Or call: (860) 482-6869, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
weekdays.
- Knight-Ridder News Service by CNB