Anaphylaxis d/t Spandex?

[mobey]

Had a great anaphylaxis call late last night and wanted some opinions from you folks.

25 y/o female on an excersise run. Started to get what she thought were multiple mosquito bites on her chest and arms, ran back to house and jumped in shower, approx 5 min later called ambulance d/t difficulty breathing. O/A Classic anaphylaxis.... Choking shallow resps, edema in face hands etc, hives everywhere yada yada yada. She has never had a reaction before to anything. No bites (besides mosquitos) on her run, no plant contact, NPO for 3hrs previous to reaction. The only thing "new" that day was a new spandex sports bra worn for the first time for the run.

I have looked this up and info is sparce but it looks like some brands of Spandex contains latex. Anyone have any experience with this??

[katbemeEMT-B]

My daughter and I both have a latex allergy. We have been told by our doctor to be very careful and read all labels before we by things. There is latex and latex by-products in many of the things a person uses daily. Under clothing is a big one. There is latex in many of the bands that hold the under clothing in place. Some other products I had never thought of: Ace bandage or sports wrap, band aids (even when they say they are latex free it is possible to have a reaction to the adhesive), swimsuits. This is just a few in a long list. We also have Medical ID bracelets to alert Medical Personnel that we are asthmatic and have a latex allergy.

[emtannie]

It is very possible that she had a latex allergy to her spandex clothing. As stated above, there are lots of items that contain latex that we don't think about.... I too have a latex allergy.... so am careful.

I have seen that reaction to neoprene as well - athletic braces and sandals. With a latex allergy, even balloons at a birthday party, even if the person with an allergy does not touch them, the latex particles in the air can set off a reaction.

[WendyT]

I carry an epi-pen and I was sitting in the wal-mart store and this lady of about 20 yrs of age, was having a reaction to something and she said to her friend her throat was closing up, so I took my epi-pen out and told her what I was going to do and she felt better, but I made her friend call 911 because it could come back again. It's just to be on the safe side, so 12 days later I get a call from her mother telling me that her daughter is allergic to latex and she bought knew clothes to go running in and wanted to look great when she gets married.

I wear spandex, that is so weird. I got bit by mosquitos before, the last one made my left leg look like a cherry tomato, what's with that?