Latex Allergy
What is Latex?
Latex is a rubber product made from sap of rubber trees.
Many items at home, in the community and in a hospital may contain latex. These include, but are not limited to the following:
(All of the items used at Cincinnati Children's are latex safe.)
Household items:
Balloons
Pacifiers and bottle nipples
Beach and water toys
Toys (Stretch Armstrong, old Barbies™)
Infant toothbrush massager
Koosh rubber and tennis balls
Art supplies (paint, glue, erasers)
Dental products (mouth guards)
Dental dams
Sport shoes and rubber clothing (raincoats, elastic on underwear and socks)
Disposable diapers
Zippered plastic storage bags
Kitchen cleaning gloves
Condoms, diaphragms
Rubber bands, Band-Aids®
Hospital items:
Surgical and exam gloves
IV tubing injection sites
Catheters
Adhesive tape
Electrode pads
Blood pressure cuffs
Tourniquets
Stethoscopes
Crutch tips, axillary pads
Hand grips on racquets, bicycles and tools
Bed sheet protectors called Chux
Elastic bandages
Wheelchair tires and cushions
Ace® Wraps
Medication vials
Any item that is light brown and can be stretched may contain latex. The items that are listed can be replaced with items made from vinyl, plastic, or silicone.
What is a Latex Allergy?
Some children may have a contact sensitivity to latex. Other children may have an actual allergy to Latex.
Reactions can be seen when products made from latex come in contact with the child's skin, mucous membranes in the mouth, genitals, bladder, or rectum, or the bloodstream (during surgery). Some children may also react when blowing up a rubber balloon or breathing in powder from the inside of latex gloves.
When children have a sensitivity to latex, they can get redness, itching or swelling where the latex touched the skin.
When a child with a latex allergy comes in contact with a latex product, they can have the following symptoms:
In some cases, severe reactions ("anaphylactic shock") can occur and the child may have problems breathing, experience chest tightness, or have swelling of his/her throat or tongue. Severe reactions require emergency treatment.
The symptoms of a latex allergy may look like other medical conditions. Always consult your child's physician for a diagnosis.
Who is at risk?
Some children are more likely to become latex sensitive. These are children who have frequent exposure to latex from medical procedures, including:
Children with spina bifida
Children with complex genitourinary disease
Children with chronic indwelling medical devices made of latex such a nasogastric tubes, G-tubes, or suprapubic catheters
Children who have had many surgeries
Children who have allergies to certain foods may also have a latex allergy. Both the foods and the latex may have some of the same proteins.
Some commonly eaten foods which contain some of the same proteins as latex include the following examples:
Bananas
Avocados
Chestnuts
Kiwi
Apple
Carrot
Passion fruit
Papaya
Potato
Figs
Peaches
Nectarines
Plums
Tomatoes
Celery
Melons
What to do if your child is allergic to latex:
Avoid all latex products at home and in the hospital (Use items that do not have latex in them)
Ask your child's doctor to evaluate him/her for pre-medication before surgery to help prevent a reaction
Use a MedicAlert™ bracelet or necklace
Carry a pair of non-latex gloves, information about latex allergies, and/or a note from your child's doctor
Be sure hospital and school records have a latex allergy alert
Teach your child to know and avoid latex products
Ask your child's doctor about the use of injectable epinephrine for your child in the event of an emergency
Have it available for your child in all of his/her surroundings (at home, in the car, at daycare, etc.)
Know what to do in case of an emergency (discuss this with your child's doctor and school nurse)
Avoid areas where your child may inhale latex molecules
Latex-Free Alternatives / Barriers
Elmers™ (school glue, Glue-All, Glue Colors, Carpenters Wood Glue, Sno-Drift Paste), FaberCastel® art erasers, Crayola® products (except for rubber stamps, erasers)
Liquitex® paints
Mylar balloons
PVC (Hedstrom Sports Ball®)
Provide a barrier: cloth or mat; wooden floors
Polyurethane female condom (Reality®), Polymer®, polyurethane male condoms soon on market
Cover with cloth or tape
Wire springs
Tranquility®, First Quality®, Huggies® and Gold Seal® (use Velcro® closures)
Cover elastic with cloth (Decent Exposures®)
Synthetic non-latex gloves for food handling
Silicone nipples (Gerber®, Evenflo®, MAM®)
Vinyl or leather handles
Vinyl, cotton liners (Allerderm®) under kitchen gloves
Jurassic Park figures (Kenner®), 1993 Barbie™, Disney dolls (Mattel®), many toys by Fisher Price®, Little Tikes®, Playschool Discovery®
String instead of rubber bands
Waxed paper, plain plastic bags
Tell your child's caregivers if:
Your child has ever had any type of reaction to a latex product
You think your child has had a reaction to latex
Your child has an unexplained allergic reaction during an operation
Your child's caregivers include dentists, physical/occupational therapists, physicians and nurses, teachers, daycare providers and babysitters, and friends and family members.
Call your doctor or the Allergy Division at Cincinnati Children's if you have other questions.
This information is based upon the following resources:
- Children's Hospital Boston
- Spina Bifida Association of America
- American Latex Allergy Association
Rev. 1/09
