1. Prevalence of Latex Allergy among Healthcare Workers in Izmir (Turkey)
- Author
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Bengü Tatar, Aliye Mandıracıoğlu, Selma Gül, Mehmet Erdem, Sukran Kose, and Ege Üniversitesi
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Allergy ,Turkey ,Health Personnel ,Occupational safety and health ,Latex Hypersensitivity ,Food allergy ,Occupational Exposure ,Health care ,Hypersensitivity ,Prevalence ,Humans ,Medicine ,Family history ,latex ,healthcare workers ,business.industry ,Smoking ,ComputerSystemsOrganization_COMPUTER-COMMUNICATIONNETWORKS ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,General Medicine ,allergy ,medicine.disease ,Surgery ,Occupational Diseases ,ComputingMilieux_MANAGEMENTOFCOMPUTINGANDINFORMATIONSYSTEMS ,ComputingMethodologies_PATTERNRECOGNITION ,Latex allergy ,Family medicine ,Natural rubber latex ,Female ,InformationSystems_MISCELLANEOUS ,business ,Latex sensitization - Abstract
WOS: 000347140200009, PubMed ID: 25622485, The purpose of this study was to determine prevalence of natural rubber latex (NRL) allergy among healthcare employees and identify sensitive individuals. A total of 1,115 healthcare workers (HCWs) employed in Izmir Tepecik Education and Research Hospital participated in the study. Information on age, gender, occupation, history of allergy, and complaints were collected through a questionnaire. Serum latex-specific IgE level was determined. Among HCWs enrolled in the study, prevalence of latex sensitization was determined as 4.2%. More frequent occurrence of latex allergy was detected among nurses. Family history of allergy and history of personal food allergy were significantly more often noted among individuals with latex allergy. Latex is considered to be the leading source of occupational health problems.
- Published
- 2014