The teen, who has always been absolutely healthy, had a serious reaction at the end of a stay in a youth movement camp.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHcockroach 224.88(photo credit: Courtesy)
Most people suffering from allergies have reactions from exposure to dust mites, cats, ragweed, cheap metals, peanuts and other foods.
But a 15-year-old boy living on a kibbutz in the Galilee was found by Emek Medical Center experts to be allergic to cockroach droppings, which can worsen post-nasal drip due to allergy and asthma and trigger other allergic symptoms,
The teen, who has always been absolutely healthy, had a serious reaction at the end of a stay in a youth movement camp. He suffered from shortness of breath and a skin rash that continued for several days.
His parents took him to Dr. Menahem Retem, head of the allergy service at the Afula hospital and chairman of the Israel Allergy and Clinical Immunology Society.
Retem questioned the youth, who said that the allergic symptoms did not present themselves when he and his friends slept outdoors but only when they were in a hostel's rooms, which were not clean and were infested with cockroaches.
Retem did a skin test and found that indeed he reacted to cockroach excrement.
While he could not prove absolutely that this was the cause of the respiratory problem and rash, the allergologist said it was clear enough to him and reason to advise the hostel to clean up.
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