Incidence of latex allergy in atopic children in Japan

Many cases of latex-induced intraoperatived anaphylaxis have been reported in Europe and the U.S. but not in Japan. We measured latex-specific IgE antibody in sera from the 108 atopic children with high serum IgE levels (over 1,000 U/ml). All of them were diagnosed to have asthma, atopic dermatitis and/or food intolerance. Eleven (10.2%) out of 108 patients were found to have latex-specific IgE by RAST, and 6 of them were positive for latex antigen by skin test. Most of the children did not realize that they were allergic to latex until we discovered it. This data suggest that we should be cautious about latex allergy when atopic children have to be operated upon.