A few years ago there was an outbreak of allergic reactions related to the use of latex. The problem was largely confined to hospital workers who wore latex gloves. But latex is now used in hundreds of everyday products, and this has led to an increase in the number of people in the general population who have developed serious allergies.
Symptoms can range from a simple rash to an inability to breath.
When reports of latex allergy surfaced in the late 1980's it didn't take long to figure out that the problem was largely the fault of the gloves. To protect themselves against HIV and Hepatitis B, health care providers had increased their use of latex gloves dramatically. Now at least 10 per cent of health care workers have an allergic reaction to latex. The reaction can be severe enough that the body simply shuts down, going into anaphylactic shock which is potentially fatal. Latex is the natural product of rubber trees.