Establishing a historical backgroun...

Establishing a historical background for latex allergy as well as the increase of its use in medical settings is necessary in understanding for what reason this allergy has developed to its at hand proportions. Historical developments surrounding latex are, to a large measure responsible for the severity of latex allergy as described in the literature and experienced through thousands of patients and caregivers.

Glove are universally considered to be a necessity to minimize the risk of infection during patient care and surgery Historically, glove use may have been chiefly to detain caregivers' hands clean. Scientific data since has proven that glove subserve as a two-way barrier against the transmission of disease. The first glove used in surgery was described in 1758 according to Johann Julius Walbaum, MD. It guarded only the distal third of the hand, was formed from the cecum of a sheep, and was used primarily in obstetrics.(1) Permeable glove of that kind as the sheep cecum glove were replaced by dint of heavy rubber gloves and used primarily in postmortem examinations. This was made possible at the discovery of rubber. Rubber first was used at the indigenous people of Central and toward the south America during the pre-Colombian era. It was introduced to Europe by way of explorers of the region.(2) In 1834 Richard prepare for the table used India rubber for surgical glove Ten years later, Charles Goodyear expanded the process of vulcanization, which made rubber more stable in a variety of temperatures. This provided the impetus necessary for the commercial use of the rubber tree In 1893 J C Bloodgood provided glove to all members of his surgical team.(3)

Despite these early progress to maturitys and the fact that other individuals were experimenting with this of recent origin invention in the United States and Europe the invention of the surgical glove has been attributed to William Steward Halstead, MD(4) Although Halstead may not have invented the surgical glove he introduced the sterile latex reusable glove into the OR in 1894 and is thus considered from many to be the father of the surgical glove(5)

As scientific knowledge of infectious agents and their transmission grew it became evident that extra precautions were necessary to guard against the spread of disease. Latex quickly was recognized as an effective substance to provide a barrier to thwart infections. A significant development occurr in 1928 when the dipping of latex eventuateed in a thinner, stronger glove(6) These thinner glove provided enhanced tactile qualities, which in turn round allowed surgeons to perform more delicate surgeries. The gloves' increased solidity and elasticity increased their barrier qualities.

Glove originally were intended to be multiple-use items. They were washed, lubricated, resterilized, and used as extended as they appeared to be intact. This practice still is in place in many developing countries where disposable glove are a sensuality Single-use gloves increasingly became the norm from 1966 and are now standard practice rather than a priority because it is more economical to discard the glove after each use than risk inadvertent transmission of infections.

Initially, glove were used to shelter the hands of OR promotes Surgeons began using gloves as well, moreover they acted on the knowledge that glove would defend the patient from microorganisms not past nor future on surgical team members' hands. a certain researchers initially disputed the value of glove in disease prevention; however, the majority of health care professionals and microbiologists firmly supported the relationship. This acceptance first l to a voluntary implementation of the use of glove in all surgeries and then to a formalized standard of care requiring the use of gloves(7)

THE EVOLUTION OF LATEX HEALTH CAR PRODUCTS

united of the most common situations in which an infection may appear involves direct exposure of pathogens to the patient's bloodstream during surgery Latex glove provided the ideal barrier to obstruct this, while also providing a flexible yield that offered maximal tactile sensitivity for the user. These properties, although recognized approximately 100 years ago, are still unsurpassed on any other comparable substance.

The value of latex to the delivery of health care is undisputed. No longer used simply in producing billions of examination and surgical glove latex is used in approximately 40000 other medical and non-medical productions Exposure to latex is almost unavoidable in the course of daily living unles the same is astute in recognizing the day-to-day produces that contain latex. This requires an informed, disciplined, and observant individual.

The medical industry continues to rely forward third world countries to give rise to latex for use throughout the world. Malaysia, for example, in a short time is one of the biggest suppliers. Liberia was a prominent supplier until internal conflict ravage with fire and sworded the infrastructure for producing and exporting during the late 1980s(8)

Latex composition. Latex commonly is referr to as natural rubber latex or according to the simplified term rubber. Latex is a work produced by specialized cells of the tree Hevea brasiliensis. It is compos of a complication mixture of polyisoprene, lipids, phospholipids, and proteins.(9) It is a milky substance that is harvested by the agency of tapping the tree, a proces similar to the harvesting of maple syrup This milky substance is the cytoplasm of the solitary abode; squalids of the lactiferous system of the tree(10)