Prevalence of contact urticaria in health care workers.

Abstract. Latex allergy is a major cause of IgE-mediated urticaria in occupational dermatology. Urticaria may be complicated by other pathological conditions, affecting the respiratory system: asthma and rhinitis. A cohort of 735 health workers examined at the Allergy Surgery of the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public health has been studied. All people (295 subjects, 40,1%) who experienced symptoms were examined. Latex exposure data were recorded, dividing the cases into three risk categories, high, medium and low, together with allergic symptoms and previous story of allergic diseases. In the group of 295 symptomatic patients, 130 workers (44.0%) reported symptoms of urticaria associated with occupational exposure. About half (46.1%) of these subjects were sensitized to natural latex. No correlation between risk exposure category and the latency to onset of symptoms was found, the prevalence of latex sensitization was similar in all groups. The likelihood of developing latex sensitization or allergy correlated only with the variable atopy.