Roach Allergy Issues:

[Matt K]

On very rare occasion, people can become allergic to roaches. Here are some thoughts:

**********

Funny how vets, doctors, and such professions dont get enough info on insects ever.....

I have some doctor friends who admit there is no solid info on roach allergies and they have to make thier "best guess" to treat the patient.... most docs are not diagnosticians per se but treat patients in general medical terms.... even medical 'specialists' have to do alot of homework to resolve patient issues.....and docs are usually pretty busy and time for that kind of homework is scarce.

HEPA filters will not work on roach allergies in many cases. What you are allergic to is not a particle that can be filtered, but a chemical compound in vapor form (vapor =VOC aka Volitile Organic Compounds). To filter the room of these VOC's, you need a filter that is designed to remove something like cigarette smells from the air. This would involve a two part system- one is use of a good activated carbon filter and the other is a resin that is in beads or fibers that is chemically absorbant.

Here is a link to a great example of a product for such things:

http://www.air-purifiers-america.com/produ...mp;linkid=image

 

[Zephyr]

Ah, classic issue.

I get this stuff from my family all the time, especially my ditsy hippy cousin who was over for Thanksgiving. Seeing as I just had a major die off, and I only do roach cleanings once a week, with the large amount of dead roaches in one of my bins there was a bit of and odor issue in my roach room. My cousin smelled it and went off on a tangent, spouting how I was going to get deathly sick etc. I've lived with roaches for 2 years now. My worst reaction ever was when I cleaned out my old hisser bin with coconut chunk substrate. The frass fell between the chunks, collected, and because I fed sickness, grew, presumably, penicillin. I am badly allergic to penicillin, so I blame my reaction on this.

Aside from this issue, the only problems I ever have with my roaches is the occasional itchy bump on my arm from when I grab one of my hissers the wrong way. I assume this is because of the fungi growing on the hissers, which is allowed into my body if one of their leg spikes jabs me hard enough.

 

[BugmanPrice]

Sometimes I am asked to go to some of the local school to talk about insects, invertabrates, or whatever. I usually bring some hissers and after two to three hours showing them to the kids I get little red bumps on my arm. I'm not allergic to anything like penicillin but there is something that irritates me after a while. Is the antigen from the actual 'roach, something it emits, or something that grows on or in the ‘roach? Interesting stuff...

Aside from this issue, the only problems I ever have with my roaches is the occasional itchy bump on my arm from when I grab one of my hissers the wrong way. I assume this is because of the fungi growing on the hissers, which is allowed into my body if one of their leg spikes jabs me hard enough.

 

[Matt K]

Sometimes I am asked to go to some of the local school to talk about insects, invertabrates, or whatever. I usually bring some hissers and after two to three hours showing them to the kids I get little red bumps on my arm. I'm not allergic to anything like penicillin but there is something that irritates me after a while. Is the antigen from the actual 'roach, something it emits, or something that grows on or in the ‘roach? Interesting stuff...

In your case, could it be irritation from the tarsus (claw/toe/foot) of the roach on your skin? The tarsus is more than just a claw, but a microscopicly complex apparatus that could cause that reation.

 

[CruzBris]

On very rare occasion, people can become allergic to roaches. Here are some thoughts:

**********

Funny how vets, doctors, and such professions dont get enough info on insects ever.....

I have some doctor friends who admit there is no solid info on roach allergies and they have to make thier "best guess" to treat the patient.... most docs are not diagnosticians per se but treat patients in general medical terms.... even medical 'specialists' have to do alot of homework to resolve patient issues.....and docs are usually pretty busy and time for that kind of homework is scarce.

HEPA filters will not work on roach allergies in many cases. What you are allergic to is not a particle that can be filtered, but a chemical compound in vapor form (vapor =VOC aka Volitile Organic Compounds). To filter the room of these VOC's, you need a filter that is designed to remove something like cigarette smells from ecig called Aerotank Mega. This would involve a two part system- one is use of a good activated carbon filter and the other is a resin that is in beads or fibers that is chemically absorbant.

Here is a link to a great example of a product for such things:

http://www.air-purif...mp;linkid=image

Allergic to roaches is very rare but unfortunately my friend is..Now he lives very tough life and needs best clean surroundings for living..