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My sisters found out about poisen oak. It’s been 50 yrs ago. They had gone on a hike. They forgot to bring toilet paper. They used poisen oak leaves. And, as they say, “the rest is history”.
Yikes!
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Could be a vaccine is just around the corner. Scientists at the University of Mississippi and Hapten Sciences are:
“proceeding with a compound called PDC-APB” to be injected once every year or two to prevent the poison plant’s effects. “We believe the shot will lead to desensitization and reduce or eliminate reactions to poison ivy, oak and sumac,” Ray Hage, CEO of Hapten Sciences. ”Every March I start to get e-mails from people asking, ??Where is the drug? Can I be in a trial??? Hage’s team, which has licensed the compound, passed initial safety testing in human beings and is about to be evaluated in a clinical trial.”
Interesting is that PDC-APB does not neutralize urushiol but instead blocks a nonhistamine Mast Cell pathway that causes the itch. I.e., it changes your body chemistry so you don’t itch & scratch.
- Posted by: @pabdbfinc
If you find a cure for chiggers let us know!!!!
To reduce the number of bites, Deet helps some, and a shower and change of clothes as soon as possible after being in their habitat, too. Maybe permethrin, but we have a cat so haven’t tried it. After being bit, I haven’t found anything that reduces the misery.
. @bill93 I’m with you on the prevention. It’s the after bite that is, as you correctly stated, MISERY! I usually scratch them wide open and douse them with alcohol to dry them out as fast as possible. I find the sting of alcohol is actually more comforting than the itchiness, lol!
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