Low prevalence of latex sensitivity in South African spina bifida children in Cape Town

Tribute to Paul PotterI began working with Paul at Groote Schuur Hospital on the 1st of February 2000. At that time, we were part of the Division of Laboratory Medicine. This was before the days of the NHLS. Our clinical responsibilities included a weekly allergy clinic at Red Cross Children’s Hospital, run by Professor Eugene Weinberg. The big latex epidemic was taking hold and Paul was instrumental in getting powdered latex out of the hospital environment. We ran a latex clinic at GSH once a week, and diagnosed many new staff members weekly. In addition, it was at this time that Paul started up his unit at The Lung Institute.We had, however crossed paths in the 80’s, when I was still a medical technologist, and ran the routine allergy diagnostic laboratory at Medical School, under Professor Eugene Dowdle. The specific IgE’s were conducted using a radioimmune assay. Paul was working on his MD thesis on beta receptors. We chopped up many a foetal lung to find him enough raw material. Perhaps the macabre nature of this work played a role in my decision to leave the laboratory and go back to UCT to study medicine. It was no surprise therefore that when he phoned me to offer me a job in his department in 1999 I easily relinquished the idea of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.This article was published following the work done at Red Cross Hospital and GSH, mostly by a visiting dermatologist, Dr Asmah Johar from Malaysia. We collaborated with the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur as well as the National University of Singapore. - Di HawardenAbstractStudies from Europe and the United States report that spina bifida children have a high prevalence of latex allergy. This study investigated the prevalence of latex allergy in a cohort of 24 spina bifida children at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. The children were investigated using a detailed questionnaire, skin-prick tests (ALK-Abello), ImmunoCap RASTs, Western blotting and ELISA, using the purified latex proteins Hev b1 and Hev b3 and whole latex preparation. A low overall prevalence of latex sensitisation of 16.7% was found in the children. Children who were sensitive reacted to water-insoluble Hev b1 and Hev b3 proteins. The low prevalence of latex sensitisation in the South African children may not be explained by stringent latex avoidance. The children were from a low socioeconomic social status and ‘hygiene’ and other factors should be considered.