Poison Ivy Vaccine in the Works and My Skin Couldn’t be Happier
If you know me, you know that just about every summer I somehow tangle with poison ivy. I'm so allergic to that green-leaf devil that even if I look at it, I end up breaking out in a serious rash. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit there but I am highly allergic to it.
I'm about to use the v-word so don't freak out. Scientists are apparently working on a poison ivy vaccine that would prevent the torturous plant's effects. It's a compound called PDC-APB" that would get injected once every year or two. Hell yes, sign me up!
If you've never had poison ivy, let me just tell you, it's the absolute worst. The itchiest and most irritating feeling. Trust me, I know. I've had it in the worst places possible on the body.
Ray Hage, CEO of Hapten Sciences:
We believe the shot will lead to desensitization and reduce or eliminate reactions to poison ivy, oak and sumac. Every March I start to get e-mails from people asking, ‘Where is the drug? Can I be in a trial?
SEE ALSO: Three Poisonous Plants to Avoid in Michigan
According to Fox 2, the company has licensed the compound, passed initial safety testing in human beings and is about to be evaluated in a clinical trial.
Millions of people are impacted by poison ivy or its cousins poison oak and poison sumac every year. As a matter of fact, I'm avoiding one of my buddies right now because he has it all over his body. My dad is suffering right now too but from poison oak. He has it on an embarrassing part of his body. Let's just say, he must have gone to the bathroom after encountering the poisonous plant.
Some people are lucky and aren't even allergic to poison ivy but the majority of the population is. I'm unfortunately part of the population that's extremely allergic to it.
Source: Fox 2