Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Episode Twenty-seven: An Itch You Just Can't Scratch

Skeeter Syndrome, and why I hate reserchers...well...not hate...but really strongly prefer the applied sciences...

Allergic reaction to mosquito bites identified for first time—"skeeter syndrome"
MILWAUKEE
—Bug bites are a standard annoyance for those who spend time outside during the summer months. The consequence for most is uncomfortable swelling and itching at the site of the bite for a short period of time. However, young children, immune deficient persons and those previously unexposed to mosquitoes are at increased risk for a severe reaction to mosquito bites according to a study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Canadian researchers recently identified this reaction as "skeeter syndrome," defined as mosquito-bite induced large, local inflammatory reactions accompanied by fever.

Large local reactions to mosquito bites are under diagnosed and sometimes assumed to be infectious in nature when in fact, they are the result of an allergic reaction. In this study, researchers studied five healthy children between the ages of two and four with no history of allergy to insect bites. Each had been diagnosed with cellulitis, a bacterial infection of the skin and tissue that is usually found on the face, neck or legs. The children developed extreme redness, swelling, warmth and inflammation within hours of a witnessed mosquito bite. Several months later the children were tested for allergy to mosquito. Blood tests confirmed that the children had been misdiagnosed: the symptoms they experienced were the result of an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite, not cellulitis.

People with skeeter syndrome should minimize their exposure to mosquitoes to avoid experiencing an adverse reaction. It is important to increase the awareness of skeeter syndrome so those affected can avoid unnecessary diagnostic procedures and antibiotic treatments.

[From: "Skeeter syndrome." J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999;104: 705-707.]


The SCA has my hat (I think)!
Maybe I should engage in Guerrilla Knitting?


Governess Gone Goth



WEAVING!?!?!
Orange Juice Carton Basket
Tragic Crafting...

But more importantly:

Why don't the folks on Survivor start studying how to do this THE SECOND they send their application in???

Cheap sock blockers for those of us with less dough than fiber.

Tucson, Meet Yourself
! No, meet YOUR self. No really, meet...em...the food was great.

And, importantly, I promised you Hessians. So here:


APOLOGIES! Dateline: Dallas, TX, 3:00am, Terminal C7, Samsung hospitality lounge.
I flew to NYC to surprise my husband on our 10th Anniversary, and am currently stuck in D-FW airport (grrrrrrr) at 3AM. I was supposed to be home five hours ago. Don't get me started...just please know that your podcast page was supposed to be up a long while ago.
The Libsyn page should have loaded though, on Thursday, and the rss feed should have dumped the 'cast onto iTunes.

At least, that's what I set it up to do...

I'll get the little GCast player up on this site ASAP.

Thank's for your patience!



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7 comments:

  1. I got the podcast on my feed aggregator yesterday, so it worked through PodcastReady! Yay!

    So sorry you got stuck in the airport. My husband's flight from Orlando was almost 3 hours late yesterday. Backups in the system, yuck.

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  2. Good Lord, Blossom. You are traveling in that icky painfull condition?!

    If you are going to try anything topically on those bite you might as well try my beekeeping trick: bluing. (As in Mrs Stewart's bluing - http://www.mrsstewart.com/). On beestings, it's amazing allthough you end up with blue splotches (Sexy to some, I reckon).

    Hope the travel ennui ends soon and that you have a lovely time in NYC. Find the Takashimaya teahouse (it's in the basement. Rahter like being wrapped in a rather glamourous peaceful silver box, at a reasonable price.) -

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  3. Golly, I don't think I've ever been called "blossom" before...I rather like it!
    BLUEING!!!
    You have NO idea how intrigued I am!!! I'm going to grab my mom's bottle today. It was, indeed, awful on the flight. I had cortisoned and covered every last miserable welt with band-aids. That does two things for me--harder to scratch and no friction. I find that if anything (like the air) comes into contact with the bites I IMMEDIATELY notice them and it just gets worse from there.
    Thank you, H, for the help!

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  4. I'm sorry; I am afraid that the "Blossom" comment is a unexpected side effect of a prescribed antidepressant. Perfect strangers, co-workers, supervisors, aquaintances and, particularly, food service workers are being addressed randomly and frequently as a miriad of affectionate pet names, without warning.

    In a unpredictable gush of this kind of enthusiasm, some poor total stranger who handed me a burrito and a lime saturated Corona was addressed as "mon amour". My inner punk bassist is writhing in embarrasment. Ah, well.

    I hope the itching has lessened or at least can be cursed upon others, like some new superpower.

    BTW: What did you think of the Designer Yarn book?
    I am wildly envious that you have your own "76 trombones" marching corps.

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  5. If only more of us defaulted to monikers such as those the world would be a much happier place, methinks.
    You have an inner punk bassist?
    I have an inner back up singer (don't know if it's for the supremes or Kurt Cobain...the jury's out on that one)!

    LOVE the designer yarn book. It's actully fascinating. I have a lot to learn, which is always ALWAYS a good thing.

    Off to put my corps down for naptime!
    Ta,
    H

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  6. Delicious: Further full disclosure... "Heidi", "h", and sometimes "coldfriday": all the same damn bluing-weilding, american musical loving, so-slightly medicated broad. But I like the idea of being at least two different entities.

    Doesn't everyone have an inner performer? I should hope so. Keeps the urge to tap dance in public at a minimum. Cobain had backup singers?

    Thanks for another great podcast and I am glad you had a splendid time with your husband.

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  7. ....and on occasion, known as "madame leiderhosen". Gotta keep those ex-lovers far, far off the trail. I am sure you were just aching for all the misc. monikers. Egad.

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and then you said...