This includes hospital staff, visitors and patients. Allergic reactions can range from mild to severe, in some cases causing death. Therefore, latex balloons will no longer be permitted as gifts at Faith Regional Health Services effective May 1, 2001. When a balloon is inflated, deflated, popped or handled, the powder is free to contaminate the air. Those who are at the highest risk for latex allergy are people who have had more contact with it, such as health care workers and people who have had numerous surgeries or procedures and have a history of allergies.
People become more sensitive to latex from repeated contact.
Faith Regional is asking consumers to request a Mylar balloon or other non-latex balloon when sending balloons as gifts. Latex Balloon Facts Latex is the natural sap of the rubber tree. About 400 of these products are used on a routine basis in hospitals. Latex products contain two types of compounds that cause medical problems such as antioxidants, which cause dermatitis, and natural proteins, which can cause systemic potentially life-threatening allergic reactions. Universal Precautions were started in the 1980s to avoid health care workers and patients from coming in contact with bloodborne illnesses such as HIV and Hepatitis.