Latex allergy is recognized as an increasingly serious medical problem that affects not only health care workers but also the general population. This increase may be attributed to health care workers' increased use of latex gloves as a universal precaution to combat the spread of bloodborne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B. The incidence of latex allergy now approaches 25 percent for health care workers (dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, physicians, nurses, etc.), and up to 5 percent of the general population.

Reviewed: January 2012