Posted on 09/29/2004 1:52:42 PM PDT by kingattax
SAITAMA -- A middle-aged man died here earlier this year from asthma after he was bitten by his pet hamster, a local hospital said.
In February, the man suffered from an allergic disease called anaphylaxis after the hamster's saliva entered his body when he was bitten by the pet, triggering asthma symptoms, according to the Saitama Red Cross Hospital that treated him.
Anaphylaxis is an allergic disease that occurs when protein or other foreign substances enter one's body multiple times and the immunity system becomes oversensitive, according to experts. The disease quickly paralyzes circulatory organs or respiratory organs.
The man in his 40s, whose name was not disclosed, had been bitten by his pet hamster many times, Kazuya Kiyota, a doctor at the hospital, said.
In February this year, he had a fit of coughing and collapsed after being bitten on the finger by the animal. By the time he was admitted to hospital, his heart and lungs had stopped functioning. He died shortly afterwards.
Doctors conducted an autopsy on the man's body and found that he had a sharp allergic reaction to protein contained in the hamster's saliva.
Even though 17 cases of anaphylaxis caused by pets have been reported across the country since 1995, it is quite rare that such an allergic disease causes death, Kiyota said
Richard Gere in the news again.
One wonders if this is what the hamster Kerry gave mouth-to-mouth to really WANTED to do to Kerry. EEEYUCK!
Guess Kerry got off lucky when he tried to give Licorice mouth to mouth.
Must have been a Syrian hamster..
Rogue Gerbil ping!
Ok, the Gere reference is over my head. What is that about? [Considering that 2 posts mention him.]
Sounds like something out of The Sims. . .
I made the mistake of asking that question a while ago.
don't ask
Licorice, how could you?
I've never had a homicidal hamster. I have had a ghost or two, though, usually from someone standing too close to the grill.
The hamster didn't try to perform CPR? That's the last time we let Kerry save their furry little butts. :)
This was the other Kerry hamster story but not well known. The hamster, who goes by the name of Rodney, was caught in the crossfire during a rebel uprising. After being wounded by two bullets, Rodney seemed destined to meet his maker. Out of nowhere came John "I served in Vietnam" Kerry who in a rolling dive grabbed the dying hamster and under gunfire zigzagged his way out of danger. He immediately began a blood transfusion by jabbing a straw from his Wendy's soda he was holding all the while. After removing the bullets with his Swiss Army knife he wrapped Rodney in a blanket and nursed him back to health. During his recovery John taught him self defense or biting as it is known in Hamster circles.
Latest release from Kerry aides say the Senator never met this particular hamster and it is just a rumor.
You decide.
Rumor had it a few years back that he had to go to the doc over, shall we say, "rodent stuffing", but it wasn't a hamster, but a gerbil. So the rumor goes, anyways..
Nah!
If it was Gere's rodent, the guy woulda died from e-Coli!
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