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Poison ivy shows many forms. Some plants may
be six to 15 inches high, bushy or shrubby, others three to six feet high,
climbing in a shrubby way upon fence posts. Still others assume a vine-like
growth and climb to 30 or 40 feet. Plant growth and leaves show great
diversity, too, but the end results of contact are always the same painful
irritation to the skin of susceptible people.
A few examples of injury brought to my attention in the last year or so will
show the viciousness of poison ivy. A young neighbor boy accompanied by his
father went on a fishing trip and unknowingly contacted the plant on the
bank of a stream. Infection followed, and then came a secondary infection of
the lymph glands. The boy spent a painful week in the hospital and recovered
only after a great deal of suffering, misery and expense.
Another family, upon returning from a picnic near a lake, developed
dermatitis and a check proved the fireplace they had used was located right
in a small, inconspicuous poison ivy patch. A dentist with a full schedule
of appointments one week end pruned his privet hedge which unknown to him
contained half a dozen plants of poison ivy. A few days later he had severe
irritation on his hands and arms. Appointments had to be canceled for four
weeks. On two separate occasions a young girl left for a summer camp, only
to return each time after, two to three days with poison ivy, contracted of
all places, along the much used paths of the camp.
A young couple, after buying a home in a new addition, set out some
evergreens early in the spring, before thins began to grow. After the work
of digging the holes and packing the dirt around the new evergreens, each of
them got a bad case of ivy poisoning. They had unknowingly planted the
evergreens right through a small dormant poison ivy patch. Hundreds of
people are affected every year because they clean up infected premises and
destroy the trash. The heat generated by fire volatilizes the poison, which
in turn is carried on the soot particles in the smoke and deposited on the
skin in concentrated form. And don't pet animals such as dogs or cats, which
may roam through patches of ivy. You can transfer the poison to your own
skin. |
