This story from the beginning appear on it Undark and is part of the Climate desk collaboration.
Bryan Fry’s heart pounded as he stepped back from the snake’s orbit and examined the biting marks on his hand. He had just been bitten by a death snake, one of Australia’s most venomous snakes. Ingestion with a neurotoxin may cause nausea, paralysis and – as the name suggests – death.
Fry, at the time a graduate student, had held snakes for years. Strangely, the neurotoxins were not the main concern; the required hospital would be nearby, and, although data are limited, people receiving treatment usually survive. Anaphylactic shock, on the other hand, can kill within minutes.
“Anaphylactic shock is the single worst feeling you can think of,” recalled Fry, who is now a biologist at the University of Queensland, Australia. “It simply came to our notice then. Every cell in your body screams out in a deadly shock. ”
Fry, who spent his life watching and finally studying poisonous snakes, had become deadly to them.
While most cases are less true, reporters’ reports and expert analysis suggest that it is far from rare for scientists, students, and laboratory technicians to develop allergies to the organisms. which they study. On the other hand, some allergy researchers say, it is the researchers’ passion for their subjects – the close observation, the long hours worked each day, and the years of commitment to a research project – that putting them at such high risk.
“It is true that some things cause allergies more often than others, but the biggest factor is the frequency of interaction with the study organism,” said John Carlson, a physician and researcher at Tulane University. which is mainly allergic to insects and dust. “You may have about 30 percent chance of developing an allergy to whatever you study. ”Although data are limited, that estimate is based on occupational allergy research, which studies suggest occurs in as many as 44 percent of people who work with laboratory rodents, around 40 percent of vets, and 25 to 60 percent of people who work with them are insecticides.
Federal guidelines recommend that laboratories have “well-designed air handling systems” and that staff do not provide appropriate personal protective equipment, or PPE, to reduce the risk of developing allergies . However, interviews with researchers and experts suggest that there may be little awareness of – or adherence to – such guidelines. For scientists working with less common species and those involved in fieldwork, information on what exactly is relevant PPE may be very limited.
Many researchers, perhaps especially those who do fieldwork, are used to being uncomfortable in the service of their work, Carlson says. “I think a lot of researchers are interested in the research process,” he said, “not really considering the long-term effects it could have on them. ”
In general, allergies development when the immune system passes over a substance that is normally harmless, or virtually harmless. The immune system monitors the body for potentially dangerous invaders such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Sometimes, for reasons that are not well understood, the immune system identifies something unusual, such as pollen or animal dander, as dangerous. To help identify the intruder, a person with such an allergy releases antibodies, or types of proteins, to identify it.
When that person comes into contact with the substance again, the antibodies identify it as an invader. As part of the response, immune cells release fertilizers such as histamine, which pollute and irritate the bones around them, resulting in allergy symptoms.