Ramón y Cajal Primary Care Health Center, Area 8, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Madrid, Spain.
J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2011;21(6):459-65.
Health care workers represent one of the major risk groups for developing latex allergy. Most studies have examined hospital workers. The aims of this study were to analyze the prevalence of latex allergy in primary care providers and to describe the characteristics of health care workers who are allergic to latex.
A self-administered questionnaire on work activity, history of symptoms, and allergic reactions to latex products was completed by a sample of primary care workers. Skin prick tests were performed with a commercial latex extract, and serum specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E to latex and its main allergens was determined.
Of the 620 workers contacted, 341 completed the questionnaire and 170 were tested with latex allergens. The prevalence of latex allergy was 5.9% (95% confidence interval 2.4%-9.4%). Most allergic workers with a previous diagnosis of latex allergy showed negative or lowered specific IgE levels and a reduced wheal size to latex in comparison with the previous tests. We found 3 cases with elevated latex-specific IgE due to cross-reactivity with pollen profilin, although the results were not clinically relevant. Allergy to latex was associated with the number of surgical interventions and with allergy to kiwi, banana, chestnuts, and avocado.
The prevalence of latex allergy in this study was 5.9%. The importance of a firm diagnosis at the onset of symptoms should be stressed, since reducing contact with latex can yield negative test results. Assessment of IgE reactivity to the individual latex allergens (component-resolved diagnosis) can detect sensitization to panallergens such as profilin and help to clarify the diagnosis.
医护人员是发生乳胶过敏的主要高危人群之一。多数研究都针对医院工作人员进行。本研究旨在分析初级保健提供者中乳胶过敏的流行率，并描述对乳胶过敏的医护人员的特征。
对初级保健工作者进行了一项关于工作活动、症状史和乳胶制品过敏反应的自我管理式问卷调查。使用商业乳胶提取物进行皮肤点刺试验，并测定乳胶及其主要过敏原的血清特异性免疫球蛋白（Ig）E。
共联系了 620 名工作人员，其中 341 名完成了问卷，170 名接受了乳胶过敏原检测。乳胶过敏的流行率为 5.9%（95%可信区间 2.4%-9.4%）。与之前的测试相比，大多数有乳胶过敏既往诊断的过敏工作者显示出阴性或降低的特异性 IgE 水平和减小的乳胶皮试风团。我们发现 3 例因与花粉丝氨酸蛋白酶交叉反应而导致乳胶特异性 IgE 升高的情况，但结果无临床意义。乳胶过敏与手术干预次数以及对猕猴桃、香蕉、栗子和鳄梨过敏有关。
本研究中乳胶过敏的流行率为 5.9%。应强调在出现症状时进行明确诊断的重要性，因为减少与乳胶的接触可能会产生阴性的测试结果。评估对个别乳胶过敏原的 IgE 反应（成分分辨诊断）可以检测到对丝氨酸蛋白酶等泛过敏原的致敏，并有助于明确诊断。
