Sometimes I get this. My right eye would itch and turn red... My girlfriend gave me some "Alpha Tears" (lubricating & rewetting eye drops) and it goes away in 30 minutes. Now I just drop one in my eye after I handle bloodworms and have no reaction at all.
Bad Allergies to Bloodworms
- Thread starter Liz
- Start date
I am so glad you posted this. I NEVER dreamed about bloodworms being such an allergen. You all may have saved my 11 year old boy. He has allergies SO bad. This summer he spent the night in the hospital because he walked to close to the corn field. Poor Boy. He feeds his betta freeze dried blood worms occaisonally and I don't believe I will let him do that again. He has now developed asthma and allergic reactions trigger it. Thank you for the post. I imagine it has brought new awareness to many of it.
Liz,
I sure hope your eye gets to feeling better. The itchy throat you experienced makes me nervous. I would advise seeking medical attention. You don't want your breathing to be compromised. Remember, it is going to get worse every time you expose yourself to it. Take care of yourself.
btw...even with a swollen eye and no make-up, you look lovely
Liz,
I sure hope your eye gets to feeling better. The itchy throat you experienced makes me nervous. I would advise seeking medical attention. You don't want your breathing to be compromised. Remember, it is going to get worse every time you expose yourself to it. Take care of yourself.
btw...even with a swollen eye and no make-up, you look lovely
Another alergic one here. I don't break out that bad but my face gets small welts and my eyes itch awfully bad.
Wow...I always wondered why the warning on the package about touching them ?! I've always just broken off a piece and toss it in a cup with tank water, without worrying about it. I'll be paying more attention from now on !
Hope you feel better soon, Liz. Does the allergy thing happen with fresh or frozen only? Or with the freeze dried also? Good to know so that I can use caution when handling them.
I gave up on trying bloodworms. I'm highly allergic to them. The first time I used them both of my eyes swelled shut for 3 days. I could barely open them to see.
I later tried the freeze dried type and they did the same thing, the only thing I could think of is there must be an additive I'm allergic to. Either way, even the fumes from the bloodworms trigger my alergic reaction so I do not allow them in my house.
I later tried the freeze dried type and they did the same thing, the only thing I could think of is there must be an additive I'm allergic to. Either way, even the fumes from the bloodworms trigger my alergic reaction so I do not allow them in my house.
I thought i post this to better explain what exactly causes the allergic reaction - its not an additive but a protein:
1. The allergen in the bloodworms is very probably the red hemoglobin-like
protein that gives them their characteristic color. This protein is named
erythrocruorin, and it is also found in many other invertebrate groups,
including annelid worms and molluscs. If I had such an allergy, I'd stay
away from worms too. Quantitavely speaking, a blood worm (i.e., a larval
midge of the genus Chironomus) is little more than a slightly impure
preparation of erythrocruorin---it's there in gigantic amounts. In a way
it's surprising that this protein should be such a strong allergen to some
people, for, immunologically, allergens are usually very potent
antigens---so potent that they can invoke an immune response (an allergy)
upon casual contact. Most of these powerful antigens are proteins that are
bristling with attached carbohydrate molecules that are the targets of the
immune response. These carbohydrate molecules are called haptens. So far
as I can discover, erythrocruarin doesn't have many haptens on its surface,
so why should it provoke such a response---no one seems to know. Perhaps
some of the types of erythrocruorin present in bloodworms (it's there in
multiple molecular forms, much like human hemoglobin) do have attached
haptens, but no one knows this yet..? Other than the one shown below, I
can find no reports in the technical literature on the immunogenicity or
general toxicity of erythorcruorin.
Found here - but similar information can be found all over the web.
1. The allergen in the bloodworms is very probably the red hemoglobin-like
protein that gives them their characteristic color. This protein is named
erythrocruorin, and it is also found in many other invertebrate groups,
including annelid worms and molluscs. If I had such an allergy, I'd stay
away from worms too. Quantitavely speaking, a blood worm (i.e., a larval
midge of the genus Chironomus) is little more than a slightly impure
preparation of erythrocruorin---it's there in gigantic amounts. In a way
it's surprising that this protein should be such a strong allergen to some
people, for, immunologically, allergens are usually very potent
antigens---so potent that they can invoke an immune response (an allergy)
upon casual contact. Most of these powerful antigens are proteins that are
bristling with attached carbohydrate molecules that are the targets of the
immune response. These carbohydrate molecules are called haptens. So far
as I can discover, erythrocruarin doesn't have many haptens on its surface,
so why should it provoke such a response---no one seems to know. Perhaps
some of the types of erythrocruorin present in bloodworms (it's there in
multiple molecular forms, much like human hemoglobin) do have attached
haptens, but no one knows this yet..? Other than the one shown below, I
can find no reports in the technical literature on the immunogenicity or
general toxicity of erythorcruorin.
Found here - but similar information can be found all over the web.
!!!!!
Oh wow.... I'm glad someone brought this up! My kids both have food allergies, one is anaphylaxic to peanuts and treenuts. I am definitely going to make sure that they don't touch the bloodworms.
I avoid mosquito larvae because I am severely allergic to mosquitos. I definitely don't want something around that has such serious potential for reaction.
Oh wow.... I'm glad someone brought this up! My kids both have food allergies, one is anaphylaxic to peanuts and treenuts. I am definitely going to make sure that they don't touch the bloodworms.
I avoid mosquito larvae because I am severely allergic to mosquitos. I definitely don't want something around that has such serious potential for reaction.
patoloco
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