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Article: Getting the bite out of a bee sting. (includes related information on snakebite)
- Article from:
- Medical Update
- Article date:
- October 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The research of three American entomologists, reporting in the August 3 issue of the British medical journal Lancet, refutes the conventional wisdom espoused ever since a bee first deposited its stinger (or sting, as the experts call it) in an unfortunate human. As every medical textbook and first-aid manual logically advises, the sting should never be summarily extracted by grabbing hold of the accompanying entrails left behind by the luckless bee. Doing so would squeeze more venom out of the sac attached to the sting, thereby increasing the amount of venom in the wound. Instead, one should use a knife blade, fingernail, or even a credit card to gently scrape and tease ...