12:10: The Health Roundup, with Jay, Jamie and Jimmy.
Guest: Dr. Karen Rowa, Psychologist in the Anxiety and Treatment Research dept of
Guest: Pat Morden, CEO of Shalom Village.
Guest: Irene Hogan 900CHML
With our knees deep in Summer, comes also the friendly neighborhood bugs! You know, every one's favorite mosquitoes, black flies, wasps and bees are amongst the few. Living in North America, means coping and living with summer bugs, but what do you do if you get stung or someone you know or love shows symptoms of an allergic reaction? Lets get the facts on Insect Stings! Living in North America there are very few types of insects that carry venom or poison, and none whose venom is dangerous, unless however an insect bite or sting causes an allergic reaction. The #1 insect responsible for the largest number of severe allergic reactions is the yellow jacket wasp.
STINGING INSECTS: honeybees and bumblebees, wasps and hornets.
BITING and BLOODSUCKINGS INSECTS: mosquitoes, flies( black flies, sand flies, horseflies
deer flies) ticks, bedbugs, fleas.
Stinging Insects when stung cause a sharp pain followed by a burning sensation that soon resolves into a major itch. A red ring or bump appears at the site of the sting. An important thing to remember is that a bee's stingers are barbed and usually remain in the skin. Do not try and attempt to pull the stinger out with your finger nails or tweezers as this may result in busting the poison sac and resulting in more venom into your skin. Scraping the stinger out with a credit card or scratching out with your fingernail as soon as possible. Wasp's and hornets lack the barbed stingers and can attach again and again.
Allergic Reactions; A major allergic reaction interferes with breathing and is called anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Histamine a chemical released by the body during most allergic reactions is released into the skin and is responsible for major itching and redness of the skin ( hives) and can be released into the airways, lungs and other vital organs and can drop blood pressure to dangerously low levels. Anaphylaxis can occur after a single bite, but this is rare, most typically when stung many times, still now where near enough times to kill a non-allergic person. If you are allergic to bites or stings it is important to carry an EpiPen at all times and to have more than one, at the office and or home, work, school ect. It is important to check for expiration dates. Be sure that friends and family know how to use the pen, in case you cannot. Seek medical attention immediately, either call 911 or have someone take you to the emergency room.
Biting and bloodsucking insects cause only mild symptoms or none at all. If symptoms do appear, they will vary from flu-like symptoms, fever, headaches, body aches. Anyone experiencing signs of severe headache combined with high fever, stiff neck, difficulty swallowing, vomiting, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, lack of coordination, muscle weakness should seek medical attention.
If you are stung: 1/ apply cold water or ice in a wet cloth
2/ lie down
3/ lower the stung arm or leg
Products recommended: Antihistamine
Acetaminophen
After-bite spray
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