I've gone somewhat in the other direction, myself, and I beleive, along with this thread, that allegies do change as you age.  I used to get terrible cases of poison ivy when I was a child, especially from playing in it in places where my family went on vacation, and I did not know where the "bad plants" were growing.  I definitely recall having to drop out of driver's ed for two weeks the summer I was 16, with one of my last completely debilitating cases.  In such a case, I probably made a spetacularly poor career choice.  Now, I don't get it as badly, and I no longer get it just by being in the same county with the evil vines.  Of course, I finally learned "leaflets three--let it be," and would not touch it, even if it was covering the 38th maple syrup processing site on Fort Drum, festooning the hulk of a Dreyfuss Streamlined NYC Hudson J, or growing down into one of those 1840s "transitional" wells or privies.  In terms of archaeology safety, we are always told that "no archaeological site is worth your life."  In terms of poison ivy, how much terrific discomfort is a site worth?

________________________________

From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of Carol Serr
Sent: Mon 12/1/2003 4:00 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: poison oak/ivy...and others


My comments (duh)....some folks break out in blisters from other plants as well.  My archy/botanist friend who tromps out in the brush often... got blisters on his arms when there hadnt been any poison oak (we don't have the ivy out west) around in the area he was.  He discovered he was allergic to bush rue/ spice bush (Cneoridium dumosum)!!!  He even did a Test to see for sure (crazy nut).  I have seen him so badly blistered he cant bend his arms!

I have heard that one can be immune to poison oak/ivy for yrs...then develop a reaction...out of no where...and then each time you get exposed...the reaction gets worse.  Oh boy.    For me...I never had a reaction for yrs after all the tromping in the brush I had done...then out of nowhere...in '86 got a slight rash after having ripped the dormant winter vines off of bedrock (to record the milling elements).  Yet the rash did not show up for 2 wks...and then only on the inside of my elbows and knees (where you sweat)....while co-workers had broken out on the 2nd day in the field. ??  My cases have never gotten to the blister stage...so they dont weep.  I am bad about not scratching tho...so leathery patches develop.

As for burned plants...I was digging out an adobe structure once...after a wildfire had burned the canyon a month prior...and didnt know the plants I was uprooting were poison oak!  The PI stopped by for a brief visit...didnt even step foot in the room...nor touch anything...yet he came down with the "worst case of poison oak" his Dr. had ever seen (and put him on steroids - which turned him into worse than a DI to our survey crew; oops)....simply by inhaling the oils in the air (as I chopped up and ripped out the plants)...I guess. Yikes! Yet I didnt get any reaction.   I do use Fels Naptha tho...but it's many hrs before one gets to wash up at home...

I've also worked at sites where 80% of the crew come down with Valley Fever (Coccidioidomycosis) ...yet I had no symptoms.  My family doctor (back then) tested me...and I had no reaction...to which he assumed I was immune...having grown up in the area.  ??

 

At 10:34 AM 12/1/03 -0500, you wrote:


        I have a couple of blisters at the moment, from an area that had no visible
        evidence of the "leaves of three - let it be" in the "woods" next to a
        sewerage treatment plant, so maybe it's a contact rash from a tool. Very
        dangerous to be around burning poison ivy. Robins Island, in the Peconic Bay
        of Long Island, NY was said to have one of the larger poison oaks on record
        about a 40' high tree, according to a US government bulletin on the plants
        with the irritant oils. Ivy can also be a bush or shrub as well as a vine.
	
        George Myers