Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Beware of the wasps


Right at the end of the summer I had a run in with a wasp. I was stung twice in fact on my arm. The resulting reaction was a bit of a surprise and rather scary. My arm swelled, was bright red and very painful. My hand also swelled including the fingers. As I say it was very painful too. What’s more despite medication it was like this for a week. Rather worryingly I thought my list of allergies needed adding to, pink grapefruit had been the worst but now wasp stings took the lead.
I was interested therefore in an article about a breakthrough in treatment for stings inflicted by the “swimming pool” wasp also called the "litter bin wasp"
It seems this little blighter is now quite a nuisance in areas around the Mediterranean. The new treatment is an important break through. The Vaccine which has been developed at the Miguel Hernandez University in Elche and a Malaga Hospital is specifically designed to treat serve allergic reactions. Trials will now take place on outdoor workers who are most at risk.
It seems the sting of this American wasp can be life threatening - ouch!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Like wild looking wasp. I wouldn't want to mess with him!
Accommodation in Rome