Frozen Blood Worm Allergies

Oddball

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The allergen is capable of building up to levels in which those people with normally no or low allergic reactions may experience increased reactions. Insufficient water changes allow for a buildup of the allergen, in aquarium water, to levels that can cause as severe of a reaction as handling the bloodworms directly.

There has been reports of reactions in fish to the proteins in bloodworms. Flicking and scraping behavior has been noted in fish with no indications of parasitic pathogens.

The use of bloodworms in aquariums definitely has its benefits in the health and nutrition of our fish. Precautions, however, should be taken in their usage.
Indirect handling is recommended (gloves, scoops, etc.) and regular water changes must be accomplished to keep the allergen level in check.
Also, proper ventilation and regular cleaning must be kept up, where freeze-dried bloodworms are used, to reduce the risk of reactions from inhaled or contacted bloodworm dust (which can adversely affect pets as well as people.)
 

Oddball

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I handle as much as a kilo of live and frozen BW a day. Regretfully, I don't always remember to wear gloves when I handle them. However, I always make a point to frequently wash my hands and I liberally use alcohol-based hand sanitizer before dealing with any aquarium to reduce the risk of transferring any pathogen from one tank to another.

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Yuki Rihwa

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There has been reports of reactions in fish to the proteins in bloodworms. Flicking and scraping behavior has been noted in fish with no indications of parasitic pathogens.
I can vouch for that cause I'm using bloodworm in part of my small fish daily diet, I can see them sometime flickering around while no sight of ich, of course I didn't blindly treat my tank with ich medicine but I really don't know what's cause them to flickering around from time to time, thanks Oddball for the information.
 

jwh

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Wow, never heard of this, good to know. Allergies often develop over time, or can happen to reepeated exposure, at least I'll know where to start if I experience any of the symptoms, thanks for sharing all!
 

Pharaoh

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Local buddy of mine is allergic to them. swells up almost instantly.

I generally use a turkey baster to feed/distribute them from an independent holding tank. so far, no issues.
 
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tbrown7552

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There has been reports of reactions in fish to the proteins in bloodworms. Flicking and scraping behavior has been noted in fish with no indications of parasitic pathogens.
Ive been noticing my cichla have been doing this once in a while. I only do BW like twice a week and its only the feeders that eat it. Im going to stop for a month and see if the behavior stops
 

mattyice572

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Alot of people have an allergic reaction to bloodworms, some idividuals just get a slight itch, where in some more serious cases it can cause hives. Try feeding live black worms or mysis shrimp instead
 
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ksage15

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Be very careful around bloodworms! They're actually highly venomous, resulting in severe allergies. I fed them for years and developed a very bad allergy. I started having severe allergic reactions, took me three of them to realize it was the bloodworms. My eyes swell completely shut, I break out all over in red splotches and can't breathe. It feels like my chest is caving in.. I now carry around an epi pen and an inhaler. I tried just letting my husband feed them, but that didn't work out either. I can't clean our aquarium If they've been fed at all, my hand and arm breaks all out in welps. Also, if my husband gets near me without having washed his hands after feeding I start to react.

The reactions increased in severity.. The first reaction was bad, but the third just plain terrified me. I've always had very bad allergies but I've never experienced anything as scary as my reactions to these things. On the third reaction, it took 3 days for the swelling to go away in my eyes. They were swollen basically completely shut for 24 hours, even after steroid injections. If you do react and experience swelling in your eyes, whatever you do DONT touch your eyes! It will make it a lot worse.
 
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Betta132

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Bloodworms aren't venomous, and a reaction to venom isn't the same thing as an allergy. A venom is a harmful toxin, an allergen is something that your immune system sees as a threat and attacks. Sounds like you have an extremely bad allergy to them, which makes them as dangerous to you as if they were venomous.
 
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