LATEX HYPERSENSITIVITY - ITS PREVALENCE AMONG DENTAL PROFESSIONALS

Reports of hypersensitivity to latex are growing among oral health car e workers, who have a high degree of exposure to latex products. The a uthors undertook a study to determine the prevalence of latex hypersen sitivity among oral health care workers in a hospital dental practice. Among the 34 people who participated in the study, 12 percent had pos itive results in a skin prick test for latex. This suggests that the t rue prevalence rate of immediate hypersensitivity to latex in this gro up of oral health care workers is similar to that in other health care workers who use latex gloves frequently.