Posted on 12/22/2016 7:19:07 PM PST by nickcarraway
reminds me of the movie SSSSSSSS.
Some of us have the opposite reaction. I approach shock from certain insect bites, and the inflammation is debilitating.
Lethal allergies can develop later in life without any indication. My wife developed a shellfish allergy at 50. Her symptoms appeared “overnight,” and I’m pretty sure she would die with any significant intake.
Ping
Lived in Miami, not far from the Sepentarium. Visited several times, saw Bill Haast and wife Clarita numerous times in person and on TV.
He looked ill to me, sallow complexion, gnarled hands. He injected himself with venom, I think primarily cobra and had built up a pretty good immunity to it.
He saved many lives with transfusions and venom products he developed.
Had a good tourist show.
Watching him open the cage and his King Cobra bursting out as if looking for a fight was awesome. That King Cobra would be eye level with Haast. !! http://www.miamiserpentarium.com/
Understand. Scary. Could have very well happened to me. If you get stung that many times, either your body will develop antibodies and you become immune or you become sensitive aka allergic. Guess I got lucky. Sorry to hear your wife developed a shellfish allergy.
Every time the word “poison” appeared in this article, I cringed.
I was stung by a bald-faced hornet on the top of my foot almost ten years ago. Excruciating pain, my foot swelled so that I couldn’t fit it in a shoe and it turned blue with an infection that required 6 weeks of antibiotics. Vicious little creatures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald-faced_hornet
It followed me into the house, which is supposedly unusual.
Yikes. Fortunately their range does not include where I live. Expect even I’d feel that sting...
Lol...uses it the title but not the body of the article.
Still not as stupid as the guy injecting himself.
Oh yes it does:
Since 1948, Haast had run an immunization program in which he explored whether he could build up immunity to snake venom, leading a young Ludwin to wonder whether his own exposure to small amounts of venom could ultimately lead to protection against their poison.
“At a very early age, I just thought that was incredible. I’d never heard of such a thing, and it always stuck in my mind.”
Over the past few decades, Ludwin has alternated between daily doses of poisonous venom and just one injection every few months.
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