Latex allergy in children on home mechanical ventilation

Study objective: Determining the incidence of latex allergy in children rec eiving home mechanical ventilation. Background: The prevalence of latex clergy in the general population ranges From 0.1 to 1.0%. However, in patients with spina bifida and other chronic medical conditions associated with repeated exposure to latex, the prevale nce may be as high as 60%. Children receiving home mechanical ventilation a re frequently exposed to latex products. Therefore, we hypothesized that th ese children would be at increased risk for latex allergy. Design: Fifty-seven children receiving home mechanical ventilation (31 boys , 26 girls; mean [+/- SD] age, 7.8 +/- 6.6 years; range, 0.3 to 23.2 years) were enrolled. A radioallergosorbent test (RAST) for latex was administere d and serum IgE levels were obtained in all patients. Results: Seventeen patients (29.8%) were found to have a positive RAST for latex. Patients with latex allergy had required mechanical ventilation for an average of 6.1 +/- 4.1 years vs 5.5 +/- 5.4 years (p = 0.69; not signifi cant) in those without latex allergy. Eleven of 17 patients (64.7%) had ele vated serum IgE levels in the group with latex allergy vs only 14 of 40 pat ients (35.0%) in the group with a negative latex RAST (p = 0.04; odds ratio , 3.4). Conclusion: We conclude that there is a high incidence of latex allergy in children requiring home mechanical ventilation. We speculate that screening all children receiving home mechanical ventilation may lead to the identif ication of patients with previously undiagnosed latex allergy and the preve ntion of untoward reactions from exposure to latex.