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Content in "Kids Corner" is Copyright © Groovers Media 1999
Amy has a Latex Allergy Amy plays in the gum trees with her friends.However she has to be really careful because she has a latex allergy. Often she is invited to birthday parties where extra care needs to be taken. She cannot touch or hold the colourful baloons that float above her. Staying away from them means that she can play with her friends without having to go to hospital. She cannot eat bananas, kiwi fruit, avocado or chestnut, and must always listen to her mother and father when they tell her not to touch or eat them. She knows that they will make her sick if she eats them, staying away to be safe. When she visits the doctor or dentist, her mother has to tell them not to use their latex gloves or dental dams, that may harm her. Keeping her safe is her mother and father's priority. |
Amy the Koala |
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Parent's Handy Hints
Allergies to latex, found in everyday living - baby bottle nipples, baloons, dental dams, condoms and gloves - as well as in medical equipment, are dramatically more common than previously believed. Research has shown from tests of blood samples of 1,00 blood donors, 6.5 per cent tested positive, with reaction ranging from rashes to sometimes fatal anaphylactic shock.
Patients with Spina Bifida and similar types of congenital anomalies are greatly increased risk of latex allergy (40-70%) and patients with multiple surgeries, especially at a young age, are at increased risk. People with occupational exposure, such as dentalad ealth care professionals, have an average rate of sensitisation of 10-15%. Patients who are sensitve to local anaesthetic drugs may actually have reacted to latex glove exposure at the time of surgery.
Those who are allergic to latex are often allergic to certain foods, most notably banana, kiwi, avocado or chestnut.
Note:
Latex allergic patients should inform dentists and health care professionals
ofheir allergy so that precautions may be taken to avoid exposure to
latex during treatment.
(Information from Dennis Ownby, director of paediatric allergy and immunology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and AAIA's publication "Awareness" Spring 1997) Special thanks to the AAIA (The Allergy/Asthma Information Association) for their permission to include the above.
Links to Latex Allergy in more detail:
Elastic Education for Latex Allergy: http://pw2.netcom.com/~ecbdmd/elastic.html
Latex Allergy Link: http://pw2.netcom.com/~nam1/latex_allergy.html
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