Spina Bifida fact of the day: people who have Spina Bifida are at increased risk of having an allergy to latex. The risk is believed to be due to increased exposure, probably due to the higher-than-average number of medical appointments and procedures that also comes with Spina Bifida (and, believe me, there are A LOT more appointments and procedures).
What do you do about it? You do what's referred to as "latex precautions." You avoid latex, even though you haven't had a reaction yet. Easier said than done because latex is in darned near everything! Anything that sticks really well--Duck Tape, Bandaid (brand name) bandages, etc--probably has a latex adhesive. Interestingly, hardened rubber (like wheelchair tires) usually doesn't contain the allergen even though it is made from natural rubber.
At our house, we avoided latex baby bottles and pacis when the kiddos were little bitties, we use latex-free bandaids on our boo-boos, and you won't find rubber balloons at our birthday parties (the dusty coating inside the balloons is particularly dangerous for someone with an actual allergy because the allergen gets in your lungs and nasal cavity). I do let Addy be in a room with balloons since she isn't actually allergic, but don't allow her to play with them. If she develops a full-blown allergy, I will have to be "That Mom" who calls before Addy goes to another kid's birthday party to suss out the balloon situation.
For more info about the SB-latex connection, check out http://www.spinabifidaassociation.org/site/c.evKRI7OXIoJ8H/b.8277195/k.12A8/Natural_Rubber_Latex_Allergy_in_Spina_Bifida.htm
