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 ...

BACKGROUND Occupational exposure of healthcare workers to natural rubber latex has led to sensitization and potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. Although environmental exposure to natural rubber latex products is necessary for sensitization, it is not sufficient. A number of genetic factors also seem to contribute to the latex sensitization; however, the multigenic nature of the allergic p...

Latex allergy has become an occupational hazard among healthcare workers. Atopy and degree of exposure have been recognized as predisposing factors for latex sensitization. We investigated the prevalence of latex allergy and the potential risk factors for latex sensitization, by distributing a questionnaire to 284 employees of a general hospital in central Italy. We collected information about ...

An overview of latex allergy, including methods for preventing reactions and reducing exposure to latex, is provided. Latex allergy is a serious medical problem for an increasing number of patients and health care workers. From an institutional perspective, several precautionary procedures need to be followed to ensure safe care for patients and to protect employees from unnecessary latex expos...

LATEX [1,2] and FrameMaker TM (e.g. [3]) both employ text markup, i.e. they use annotations rather than actual format to indicate the layout of text. Markup languages belong to a family that includes HTML (HyperText Markup Language [4]), derivatives of roff (Run-Off Language) and SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language [5]). Although LATEX and FrameMaker superficially share the same approach...

Latex is a sticky emulsion that exudes upon damage from specialized canals in about 10% of flowering plant species. Latex has no known primary metabolic function and has been strongly implicated in defense against herbivorous insects. Here we review historical hypotheses about the function of latex, evidence that it serves as a potent defense, and the chemistry and mode of action of the major c...

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...

We evaluated 2401 patients with suspected streptococcal pharyngitis with the Culturette 10-minute Group A Strep ID test during a 6-month period in order to determine its suitability for rapid diagnosis in a busy private office practice. Duplicate throat swabs were obtained for each child, and latex agglutination was performed within 15 minutes. In children with negative latex agglutination resu...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The major economic product of Hevea brasiliensis is a rubber-containing cytoplasm (latex), which flows out of laticifers (latex cells) when the bark is tapped. The latex yield is stimulated by ethylene. Sucrose, the unique precursor of rubber synthesis, must cross the plasma membrane through specific sucrose transporters before being metabolized in the laticifers. The relati...

Background: Crude latex extracts are commonly used in skin prick tests (SPT) for the diagnosis of natural rubber latex (NRL) allergy. Nevertheless, variations in protein and allergen composition between latex extracts from different manufacturers can hamper a correct diagnosis. Objectives: To analyze the heterogeneity of proteins and allergens in latex extracts from 7 different manufacturers an...