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Latex is a milky fluid produced by the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, that’s found in Africa and Southeast Asia. Latex is used in a wide variety of consumer products, including balloons, rubber bands, condoms, tires, elastic bands and rubber toys. Latex also is used in numerous supplies for the health care industry, including rubber gloves, intravenous and airway tubing, catheters, syringes, stethoscopes, dressings and bandages.
With the implementation of precautions to prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis B, there has been a dramatic increase in rubber glove use and a corresponding increase in allergic reactions to latex products. The Food and Administration (FDA) estimates that from 1991 to 1996, rubber glove usage in the United States rose 247 percent to more than 18 billion pairs annually.
• Latex allergies rising

We’ve heard about the concern over latex allergy. Is there a test for it, and when do you recommend that a person get tested?

Latex, or natural rubber, contains components that are sensitizing to some people and can cause serious allergic reactions. Latex products are found in many homes and they are nearly everywhere in health care settings.
Allergy to latex can cause a number of problems, including rash and itching due to a contact-type of allergy. But latex particles also can become airborne and an individual who inhales these dust particles can experience symptoms of rhinitis, like nasal congestion and a runny nose. If a person who is allergic to latex inhales these particles, the result may be an asthma-like reaction — shortness of breath and wheezing.
However, the most serious type of reaction to latex is an anaphylactic-type of response. This reaction involves the heart and lungs and causes a violent constriction of the bronchial tubes, loss of blood pressure, and swelling of various parts of the body. It turns out that many of the episodes of anaphylaxis on exposure to latex occur in the health care setting, where latex exposure is so common.
So, I think if a person has repeated exposure to latex products, either in the home or in the health care setting, and actually has one of the several symptoms and reactions I described, at least there’s a possibility that an allergy to latex may be causing the problem. There are tests available for latex allergy.

Are they skin tests?
One type uses a skin test, in which a dilute solution of a testing material that contains some of the latex components is introduced into the skin and we look for subsequent swelling at the skin test site. Another type of latex allergy test is a blood test, where we check a blood sample for certain types of allergy-producing antibodies. After careful medical history and allergy testing for latex, we’re usually able to determine whether or not a person is allergic to latex.
Is latex allergy testing widely available?
It depends on where you are. The blood test for latex allergy is widely available through most commercial reference labs. However, skin testing is usually only available at larger health care facilities that produce their own testing agents and their own tests. Skin testing agents have been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval, but they haven’t yet been approved and aren’t widely available.
When might latex allergy testing be called for?
If you have some of the symptoms that I described, like congestion of the nose, runny nose, shortness of breath and wheezing, and that occurs upon exposure to latex, then that would be enough to suspect a latex allergy. For example, someone who works as a dental hygienist and uses latex gloves reports that he or she has these symptoms at work when using the gloves, but doesn’t have such symptoms at home or on vacation. That would be suggestive of a latex allergy and it would be very reasonable to proceed with allergy testing.