OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of latex sensitisation among a large group of healthcare workers, study the occupational and non-occupational factors associated with latex allergy, and characterise latex exposure in air and by gloves. METHODS All 2062 employees of a general hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada who regularly used latex gloves were invited to participate in a cross secti...

The rheumatoid factor (RF) latex test was evaluated as a test for congenital syphilis. High risk newborns of mothers with untreated or inadequately treated syphilis were studied. The asymptomatic infants were followed up for between 3 and 4 months (or longer if the VDRL test was positive). The overall performance of the RF latex test was better than that of the other tests studied, even though ...

Vaginal swabs from women who on clinical evidence were thought to have vaginal candidosis were examined for yeasts by conventional laboratory methods (microscopy and culture) and also assayed for Candida antigens using a rapid (3 min) slide latex particle agglutination tests. Results showed that a diagnosis of vaginal candidosis based on clinical criteria alone is unreliable: only half of the w...

A new serological technique of diagnosing human hydatid disease, employing polystyrene latex particles coated with hydatid cyst fluid, and a modified technique using bentonite particles are described. Comparison of the latex test with the complement-fixation test performed on 102 sera has shown a total agreement of 98% and an agreement of 93.1% in the positive specimens. The bentonite test and ...

OBJECTIVES To compare the performance of three diagnostic methods for Trichomonas vaginalis infection-latex agglutination, saline wet mount, and culture. METHODS Vaginal swabs from 3807 women attending antenatal clinics were tested for the presence of T vaginalis by latex agglutination. All positives and the following two negatives were tested by wet preparation and culture. RESULTS The pre...

The value of a latex agglutination test (Escherichia coli O157 latex test; Oxoid Ltd.) for rapid presumptive detection of E. coli serotype O157:H7 was determined by laboratory trials and during an outbreak of hemorrhagic colitis. The latex test was found to be a simple, highly efficient and reliable test in detecting E. coli O157:H7 with 100% sensitivity and specificity. It was also found that ...

background: rotavirus is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children with gastroenteritis. since the discovery of rotaviruses, several techniques have been used for their laboratory diagnosis; those included electron microscopy (em) and enzyme immunoassay. these methods, however, are expensive and not readily available everywhere. we have developed a technique which can be used for ...

Blood group A + H substance purified from hog gastric mucin was fixed to polystyrene particles by physical absorption to produce a lectin-agglutinable latex. Agglutination of this latex by soybean agglutinin, concanavalin A, and wheat germ agglutinin is specifically inhibited by the respective monosaccharide haptens and is not affected by known noninhibitory sugars. The sensitivity of the assay...

Allergy to natural rubber latex (NRL) gloves in healthcare workers is well recognized, and usually presents as immunological contact urticaria and sometimes anaphylaxis. Latex gloves can also cause allergic contact dermatitis, mostly because of rubber accelerators. As latex sensitivity is well known in healthcare settings, synthetic latex-free gloves are widely used. The most popular latexfree ...

A latex agglutination test was evaluated as a method for detection and titration of antiplague antibodies. Slide and microtiter techniques using polystyrene latex particles coated with specific fraction-I-antigen of Yersinia pestis were found to be comparable in specificity and sensitivity to serological tests commonly used in laboratory practice. The latex agglutination titers correlated well ...