For the first time in Japan, a large-scale survey to investigate awareness of
latex allergy was carried out, targeting all health care workers at Fujita Health University School of Medicine (total 1512 people). At first, we used questionnaires to collect information regarding the level of awareness of
latex allergy as well as the incidence of clinical symptoms when using
natural rubber products. The results of the survey revealed that approximately 85% of respondents were aware of
latex allergy. Among all respondents, approximately 19% had actual experience with clinical symptoms. As a result of skin tests conducted on respondents who had acknowledged clinical symptoms, 44 people (total 3.3%) were diagnosed with
latex allergy. In addition, the results revealed that people who were diagnosed with
latex allergy tended to suffer
atopic dermatitis and hand
eczema. Furthermore, it became evident that health care workers whose work environment involved frequent exposure to
natural rubber products showed a higher incidence of
latex allergy. We demonstrated that a specific
IgE assay was not sufficiently sensitive for diagnosing
latex allergy. However, skin tests such as prick and use tests were confirmed to be effective diagnostic measures for
latex allergy.