Latex Sensitization in Health Care Workers and in the US General Population

Sensitization to natural rubber latex is a prerequisite to type I immediate hypersensitivity reactions (urticaria, angioedema, anaphylaxis, and allergic rhinitis) that result from subsequent latex exposure. This study examines occupations in which latex glove use is common to determine whether it is associated with increased prevalence odds of latex sensitization (measured by latex-specific immunoglobulin E antibodies) by using data from 5,512 adults aged 17–60 years from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988–1991). After other factors associated with latex sensitization were controlled for, there was a nonsignificant association between longest-held jobs in health care and latex sensitization (odds ratio (OR) = 1.49, 95 percent confidence interval (CI): 0.92, 2.40). For current occupations, latex sensitization was not associated with health care work in which gloves were used (OR = 1.17, 95 percent CI: 0.51, 2.65) or with other occupations in which latex glove use is common (OR = 1.01, 95 percent CI: 0.49, 2.07) compared with other occupations. Current health care workers who reported not using gloves were at increased risk of latex sensitization, both among those without a history of childhood atopy (OR = 2.30, 95 percent CI: 1.04, 5.13) and those with such a history (OR = 28.04, 95 percent CI: 3.64, 215.97). This odds ratio heterogeneity suggests that subjects with childhood atopy may be at high risk of latex sensitization.