Frozen or freeze dried Blood worms? or either?

[brewmaster15]

Hey just a note on the Blood worms.. watch out for allergies...many people become allergic to them...The frozen ones can cause hives, ichy eyes and rashes..I can't touch them anymore....many here report that as well. We've done polls where up to 30% of the members are allergic and the scary part is they became allergic after prolonged use.

The concern with the freeze dried variety of Bloodworms is the dust.. Its been known to cause respiratory issues in those allergic.

Just some info.

hth,
al

[PAR23]

Say Par23,
What form do you use/like (cubed, loose etc..)?

I use loose bloodworms and cubed blackworms. I don't think it really matters, just my preference.

[JenTN]

Al quick question..can the bw allergy cause respiratory problems? I had a nasty chest infection last week, prior to that I had begun hand feeding frozen bloodworms. Usually I had just thawed them & dumped them in.

[brewmaster15]

Al quick question..can the bw allergy cause respiratory problems? I had a nasty chest infection last week, prior to that I had begun hand feeding frozen bloodworms. Usually I had just thawed them & dumped them in.

Absolutely possible.,, I had a friend that used to feed these by the ton...I visited his fishroom one day and the guy went over board on the Bw...they were everywhere in the tanks.. I was in there 5 minutes and my eyes started to ich, I started sneezing and my throat literally closed up....it was that bad..

If you do a search on the internet theres alot of research reports on allergies to chironomid midges...aka blood worms..
ex..
http://www.aacijournal.com/content/1/2/58

Abstract

Hypersensitivity to bloodworms (chironomid larvae) leading to asthma and other related allergic disorders is becoming common in individuals who keep or work with fish due to the increased use of bloodworms as fish food or bait.
Research

A 37-year-old woman who was a nonsmoker presented to the allergy and asthma clinic with episodes of cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, and nasal congestion. Her symptoms seemed to worsen at her workplace, a research laboratory that studies fish biology. On a recent holiday, her symptoms completely resolved, but they recurred within a week of her returning to work. The patient later noted shortness of breath and skin rash when feeding the fish. The patient keeps no pets at home, and although there is no personal history of atopy, her father has hay fever. The physical examination was unremarkable apart from swollen turbinates. Lung function tests indicated a forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) of 2.64 L, and the ratio of FEV1 to forced vital capacity (FVC) was 68%. Following salbutamol inhalation, we observed a 10% increase in FEV1 (to 2.92 L) and a modest change in the FEV1/FVC ratio (to 74%). The chest radiograph was normal, and skin-prick allergy testing with common inhalant allergens showed positivity only to grasses. These findings were suggestive of allergic rhinitis and asthma in the workplace. Salbutamol, budesonide, and mometasone nasal spray was prescribed. The patient was also asked to keep a peak flow diary and to bring a sample of the fish food for allergy testing at the follow-up visit.

At the second visit, 1 month later, the patient reported a major reduction of symptoms. The peak flow diary (Figure 1) shows a clear relationship between two episodes of feeding the fish and reduced peak flow in the week following the first visit to the asthma clinic. During the subsequent 3 weeks, when feeding was delegated to other staff, she had no symptoms and peak flows were within the normal range (data not shown). Skin-prick testing with a 1:2,000 dilution of the bloodworm fish food that had been brought to the clinic showed a strongly positive reaction with a 10 mm wheal and 32 mm of surrounding erythema. Lung function tests performed at the second visit showed an FEV1 of 2.87 L and an FEV1/FVC ratio of 79%. Given the patient's clear history of exposure to bloodworms, the positive skin test result, and the disappearance of symptoms after the removal of exposure, the diagnosis of asthma and atopy from bloodworms was made.

[JenTN]

Interesting! I found it odd because my symptoms came on suddenly & my dr. said I was wheezing, and I never wheeze. Guess they are out of the rotation!

[Larry Bugg]

I don't feed them much anymore but when I do I will not touch them. I use tongs only and wash with warm soapy water to be sure. About two years ago I had several incidents where my eye seemed real infected. Along with that I developed what appeared to be a really bad sinus infection. I ended up going to a opthomologist. After several appointments I put two and two together and realized it was due to handling bloodworms and probably rubbing my eye. It had been progressively getting worse. Could have been very serious if I hadn't figured it out. I have read reports of people ending up in the emergency room.

[brewmaster15]

Interesting! I found it odd because my symptoms came on suddenly & my dr. said I was wheezing, and I never wheeze. Guess they are out of the rotation!

one last note... The allergen in them is persistent.. It can last for weeks and weeks on surfaces.. when I gave up frozen Bloodworms here...I was getting welts and hives on my RH forearm for weeks after I last used them. Of course the Frozen Blood worms never always went in the tank without touching the side rims.... and neither did my arms

-al

[JenTN]

What is also weird is that on 3 occasions my daughter has complained of eye pain for a day or so. She is super sensitive to irritants & feeds the fish quite often. Idk if it was when she fed bloodworms so no way of knowing if it was the cause. But I know its been in the past few weeks since we began feeding because I worried it was a new med she had started.

[4discus]

I use loose bloodworms and cubed blackworms. I don't think it really matters, just my preference.

GTK-thnx

Also,
Thnx Al for the tip- all stuff I did not know. Very good info if you think of anything else please post.