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Attention parents of summer campers! The start of camp is
right around the corner. You've selected the perfect camp,
and now it's time to make sure your child heads off well
prepared. While packing lists are filled with excellent information,
there is a natural nuisance that sometimes gets overlooked
in first aid planning yet often intrudes upon campers’ outdoor
enjoyment: poison ivy.
This article is intended to provide an overview on this
common allergic reaction and address the latest prevention
and treatment options, including common-sense strategies
for minimizing its effect on your children’s camp experiences.
An Overview on Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac
Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac belong to a family
of plants that produce one of the most common allergic reactions
in the United States. The American Academy of Dermatology
estimates that anywhere from ten to fifty million people
are affected each year.
The allergic reaction is also known as urushiol-induced
contact dermatitis. Urushiol is an oil-based allergen found
in the sap of poison ivy, oak, and sumac plants. When people
come in contact with the oil, it often adheres to the skin
within minutes to a couple of hours, producing the telltale
allergic responses of itching, swelling, rashes, and oozing
blisters. Reactions can result from direct contact
with broken leaves or stems of the plants, indirect contact
by touching something that has urushiol on it, such as socks
or bed linens, or through airborne exposure to burning plants.
What It Looks Like
There is no simple way to describe what poison ivy, oak,
and sumac look like. The plants grow almost everywhere
in the United States, except Hawaii, Alaska and some desert
areas of the Southwest. In addition, the plants do not
typically grow in elevations above 5,000 feet. The prevalence
and structure of each plant vary by region and season. However,
there are some general features specific to each plant
noted below that may help your kids avoid a run-in:
Poison Ivy |
Poison ivy is the most
common and widespread plant of the three. Its leaves are characterized
by three or five serrated-edge, pointed leaflets
and assume bright colors in the fall. Poison
ivy grows as a vine or free-standing plant in the
East, Midwest, and South and as a shrub in the far
northern and western United States. |
Poison Oak |
Poison oak has three leaves and grows
as a shrub in the East and the West, where it is most
prevalent. The
plant produces whitish flowers from August to November
that dry and can remain for months. Its leaves
also form bright colors during the fall season. |
Poison Sumac |
Poison sumac has seven to thirteen
staggered leaflets with one on the tip of the plant. It
grows as a shrub or small tree and is found mainly
in the Eastern United States, primarily in peat bogs
and swamps. |
The Importance of Preparation
Everyone is well-acquainted with the advice to avoid the
plants. Sometimes, that is easier said than done, particularly
when dealing with adventuresome children. Still, there
are steps that can be taken to minimize poison ivy’s
possible effects on your children’s outdoor discovery.
Here are a few key recommendations:
- Educate your kids on what the plants look like and encourage
them to avoid them.
- Whenever possible, advise them to wear long clothing
when heading out into areas where there may be poison ivy,
oak, or sumac.
- Encourage them to apply a poison ivy/oak barrier cream
to exposed areas of the body before heading outdoors to
decrease risk of allergic outbreaks. There is a product
on the market that features an SPF 20 sunscreen for double
protection.
- Instruct them to wash all exposed areas thoroughly upon
returning to camp, taking special care to remove clothing,
which can often be a prime carrier of urushiol oil. It
is recommended that cleansers specially designed to remove
urushiol are used to further reduce the chance of allergic
reaction.
Treatment Options
Even careful children can fall victim to poison ivy reactions. After
a breakout occurs, the attending nurse can choose from a
host of over-the-counter treatments, such as calamine lotion
or hydrocortisone, which temporarily suppress the itch but
do not remove urushiol. For severe cases in which the
rash covers more than 10% of the body, doctor-prescribed
steroids are the best solution.
Many mild-to-moderate cases of poison ivy can be successfully
treated with a special, new class of post-symptomatic washes
that are specifically formulated to remove urushiol oil after
bonding to relieve itching and irritation. These washes
are the first treatments that target the source of poison
ivy allergic reactions by safely and effectively removing
urushiol—the root cause.
Summary
This article has provided a high-level overview on poison
ivy, oak, and sumac with practical treatment and prevention
options that you can put into practice for your family this
summer and beyond. There are countless resources and education
papers that delve into more specific data. As is typically
the case, an online search is the best place to start.
Poison ivy rash
is contagious.
Poison ivy, oak, and sumac rash is not contagious. It is a reaction to
urushiol and cannot pass from person to person after the urushiol binds. |
Scratching poison ivy blisters will
spread the rash.
The fluid in the blisters will not spread the rash, because urushiol is not contained
in that fluid. However, scratching blisters can cause scarring or an infection
from bacteria underneath fingernails. |
After the first
poison ivy outbreak, people become immune to other
outbreaks.
Although not everyone reacts to poison ivy upon first or subsequent exposures,
people generally become more sensitized with each exposure and may react more
severely. It is estimated that 85 percent of the population is allergic
to these plants. |
Dead poison ivy plants are no longer
toxic.
Urushiol can remain active, even in dead plants,
for up to five years. Never burn these plants,
as airborne urushiol can be deadly. |
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