SweetKatieA is offline SweetKatieA Post #1  December 7,2009, 4:11pm
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For the past 7 years, I have dedicated my life to nursing, not including the time it took me in school to get my degree (if you're a nurse you understand how horrible nursing school was). This past March, I stopped breathing d/t an allergic reaction which I found out was an allergy to latex. I now how an anaphalaxis allergy to latex that has not only been diagnosed by skin testing, but I've been intubated on a vent in the ICU for 3 days because of a reaction. I am no longer able to work at the hospital, have not been able to find a nursing job and have to carry around a pack with me at all times containing 2 epi pens because who knows when or where I'll run into latex. There are over 40,000 products that contain it and most of them are not labeled. One day, I might not be able to stop one of my reactions and I'll die. It's heartbreaking and the worst part is that it can be completely avoided.
So, I want to help you guys avoid living with this.. or not living with this as I've been doing. This is the best article I've read yet. Take a minute. Read it. STOP USING LATEX! Just stop using it. The hospital's have non latex gloves. Go get a supply and use them. It's just as simple as that. If you stop using it then you most likely won't get any kind of reaction and trust me.... you don't want one. I'm not saying this because I feel sorry for myself, I'm saying this because honestly it sucks and I don't ever want anyone else to go through this. If I can prevent just one person from contracting this allergy, then I'll feel better.
NursingCenter
If you buy into some common misconceptions about latex exposure, you could be adding to your risk of a career-threatening allergy. Use this guide to make sure you have your facts straight.

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DESPITE DECADES of research establishing latex (rubber) as a potent and dangerous allergen, latex continues to pose a hazard to you and your colleagues, and myths about it abound. More than a minor annoyance, a severe latex allergy could end your career. The good news is that it's completely preventable, in large part by switching to nonlatex, synthetic gloves.
For many years, latex and an early generation of vinyl were the only materials available for medical gloves, and most of us wore latex. But repeated contact with these gloves and other latex products increases your risk of developing a dangerous and debilitating allergy.
Poorly informed about latex, many health care professionals don't take the threat seriously enough. Here are some common myths you may share with other nurses—along with the facts you need to protect yourself and your patients.
FICTION: “Latex allergy can't happen to me.”
FACT: Although not everyone will develop a latex allergy, anyone could develop it under the right circumstances. An allergy to latex is acquired through repeated exposure—and no one is more likely to experience repeated exposure than a nurse or another health care professional.
The biggest culprits by far are latex gloves, which have high concentrations of allergenic latex proteins. Whether (or how rapidly) you become allergic to latex depends largely on how allergenic the latex gloves you use are, how many times you're exposed, and the routes of exposure.
The powder on gloves adds another element of risk. When you snap gloves on and off, you propel powder-bound latex protein into the air. An allergy develops even more quickly if you inhale and absorb airborne latex proteins.
Low-powder gloves reduce the number of latex allergens in the air, but they're not safe for someone who's become sensitized to latex. Latex gloves with no powder whatsoever (such as those with gel coatings) are less likely to release allergens into the air, but you shouldn't touch them if you're allergic to latex. They should also be avoided during surgical procedures on latex-sensitive patients because contact between the latex and mucosal tissues can rapidly trigger a reaction.
When latex touches mucosa, as opposed to intact skin, the chance of developing an allergy increases significantly. Mucosal tissues are only one-twelfth as thick as skin and much more absorbent. Clinicians wearing latex gloves or using equipment made of latex can unwittingly increase a person's risk of becoming sensitized, especially if the patient is repeatedly exposed through surgery or other clinical procedures. Examples that increase the risk of latex allergy include mucosal contact with latex gloves during surgery, dental procedures, or vaginal exams, or contact with urinary catheters during urinary catheterization.
Medication that's absorbed rubber from a vial's rubber stopper or a syringe's rubber plunger can cause reactions in patients allergic to latex. The same can occur with medication in a multidose vial that has bits of rubber left in it from multiple needle penetrations.
When it comes to allergenic qualities, however, not all latex products are created equal. Dipped latex products, such as gloves, condoms, and balloons, carry a much higher protein level than molded products, such as tires or erasers. These molded products are dramatically less allergenic because the manufacturing process removes many latex proteins.
Rather than being overwhelmed by all the ways you can come in contact with latex, prioritize. First, prevent latex from becoming airborne by avoiding latex gloves. Second, make sure you don't inadvertently inject it in medication. Third, don't put latex against mucosa.
FICTION: “We've been wearing rubber gloves for 100 years. If they were causing a problem, we'd have known it years ago.”
FACT: Until the late 1980s, relatively few people were allergic to latex. The reason is that the manufacturing process, washing, and autoclaving of medical gloves removed most of the protein allergens. In addition, glove use wasn't as extensive as it is today. But in recent years, as gloving standards have changed, so have the latex allergy risks.
Experts believe that at the start of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in the late 1980s, when universal precautions were promulgated to protect caregivers from contaminated body fluids, the quality of latex gloves may have been compromised as some manufacturers tried to keep up with demand. Because the rubber used in the gloves may have retained many more latex proteins than in the past, some gloves ended up thousands of times more allergenic. And almost overnight, many caregivers who may have used gloves infrequently in the past were constantly wearing and changing gloves.
Changes in glove powders added to the problem. Beginning in the early 1970s, most glove manufacturers changed from talc, a heavy powder, to cornstarch. Besides binding readily with latex proteins, cornstarch is light enough to remain suspended in the air, where it (and the latex bound to it) can be inhaled.
All of these factors led to latex allergies for nurses, physicians, and patients who'd never had a problem before. Today, as many as 17% of health care workers and 6% of people in the general population have a systemic latex allergy. In 1985, only 20 people ordered a medical-alert emblem citing latex allergy. In 1995, 1,175 people requested the bracelet. Currently, approximately 16,000 people wear medical-alert bracelets and necklaces to inform emergency personnel of a latex allergy.
 
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