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1. Lionfish Hell!
   by pprior/magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior) (16 Mar 93)

Lionfish Hell!

by pprior/magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior)
Date: 16 Mar 93
Newsgroup: alt.aquaria

In article <C3wD75.3p5-at-cda.mrs.umn.edu> gevingca-at-cda.mrs.umn.edu (Corey A. Geving ) writes:
>In article <C3sMFo.IrB-at-news.cis.umn.edu> shom0004-at-student.tc.umn.edu () writes:
>>
>>According to the poison control people here at the U of MN, a
>>reaction such as that described (convulsions requiring hospitalization)
>>is VERY unusual.  Your friend was probably allergic, or managed to get
>>an incredibly large dose of toxin.  
>>
>I checked up and found out he was actually stung about eight times
>before he realized it and the reaction hit him later.  He must've
>been allergic then.
>

I should write a medical section to the FAQ, since this questions
comes up fairly frequently (but I'd be wrong on some detail and
get sued, so I think not...).

Lionfish toxin can indeed cause anaphalactic reactions much like
bee stings can.  If you are allergic to them, they can kill you.
Most people are not -that- allergic, however.  If you have ever
been "stung" by one and had any sort of allergic reaction that
included swelling or any feelings of shortness of breath or 
constriction, then you should see an allergist ASAP. 
 
On a related, but tangential, note, I spoke with a dermatologist
about a subject we debated some months ago: people with HIV/AIDS
and fish tanks (or other immunocompromised individuals) - and
he flat out recommended that ANY person with low T4 counts or 
clinical AIDS should NOT be sticking their hands into fish tanks
due to the problems with mycobacterium marinum (which we discussed).
Unfortunately he did not know of a difference in risk associated
with SW vs. FW and I don't know the bacteriology. 
 
Anyway....

-- 
--------pprior-at-magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu----(614) 621-8240----------------
Paul A. Prior    Ban anchors, not reef tanks                        | |
3rd year medical student 		                  Check  --=oOo=--
The Ohio State U. College of Medicine                       six!    +  

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