Hackfujones
MemberGot rid of the matchlight.
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- Jan 13, 2016
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Thought I would chime in since I am an Allergist and bbq enthusiast that has practiced in Georgia and Texas since I was a military physician for many years.
For starters since their is always a misconception about testing results. The testing itself has no predictive value about how allergic someone is. The testing merely shows how likely the allergy is real so since your son was positive at a very low dose, he is highly likely to have an allergy to fire ants however severity cannot be determined by testing alone.
Severity is determined by the reaction he initially had so for example, if he was stung and all he had was a large local reaction, then his severity is actually quite low and the odds of subsequent stings causing life threatening reactions is only about 5-10%. If however he had full blown anaphylaxis when he was stung and developed breathing difficulties, altered mental status etc, then his chances for subsequent stings causing severe reactions would be like 60% so in that case we highly recommend the venom therapy as the risk reduction goes from that 60% to generally very low (some studies show as low as <1% but usually I quote 1-3%). Even being on therapy, we do recommend carrying an epipen at all times as well as trying to avoid fire ants as much as possible so certainly moving is ideal but not very practical.
As far as bbq and the ants, I dont personally think that having a woodpile is that much of a problem other than sometimes they like to make their mounds underneath structures so I would consider elevating your pile.
The big thing is doing treatments. Since fire ants were my arch nemesis as an Allergist in the south, I treated constantly and rarely had fire ants in the yard. I used a combination of professionals every 2 months along with I would usually walk the yard weekly and exterminate piles myself with granular as well as heavy spraying to the areas.
Fire ants are certainly a nuisance but can be managed I think without getting rid of everything.
Also big takeaway, there is no reason he can't be protected quicker. One year to reach maintenance in my opinion is MUCH to slow given the risk involved. I would inquire about reaching top dose sooner whether that means coming in more frequently or making his shot schedule more aggressive.
Anyway, my .$.02 and good luck to you and your family.
For starters since their is always a misconception about testing results. The testing itself has no predictive value about how allergic someone is. The testing merely shows how likely the allergy is real so since your son was positive at a very low dose, he is highly likely to have an allergy to fire ants however severity cannot be determined by testing alone.
Severity is determined by the reaction he initially had so for example, if he was stung and all he had was a large local reaction, then his severity is actually quite low and the odds of subsequent stings causing life threatening reactions is only about 5-10%. If however he had full blown anaphylaxis when he was stung and developed breathing difficulties, altered mental status etc, then his chances for subsequent stings causing severe reactions would be like 60% so in that case we highly recommend the venom therapy as the risk reduction goes from that 60% to generally very low (some studies show as low as <1% but usually I quote 1-3%). Even being on therapy, we do recommend carrying an epipen at all times as well as trying to avoid fire ants as much as possible so certainly moving is ideal but not very practical.
As far as bbq and the ants, I dont personally think that having a woodpile is that much of a problem other than sometimes they like to make their mounds underneath structures so I would consider elevating your pile.
The big thing is doing treatments. Since fire ants were my arch nemesis as an Allergist in the south, I treated constantly and rarely had fire ants in the yard. I used a combination of professionals every 2 months along with I would usually walk the yard weekly and exterminate piles myself with granular as well as heavy spraying to the areas.
Fire ants are certainly a nuisance but can be managed I think without getting rid of everything.
Also big takeaway, there is no reason he can't be protected quicker. One year to reach maintenance in my opinion is MUCH to slow given the risk involved. I would inquire about reaching top dose sooner whether that means coming in more frequently or making his shot schedule more aggressive.
Anyway, my .$.02 and good luck to you and your family.
Fake News :laugh:
