Word: insection
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...dismaying variety of symptoms. They swell up, - break out in hives and blisters, develop eczema or upset stomachs, and have breathing difficulties. After the initial reaction comes the frustrating detective work to find the culprit among such widely disparate menaces as dust, cat dander, mold spores, foods, medications and insect bites...
While pollen is the No. 1 troublemaker for allergy sufferers, hundreds of other substances can provoke the immune system into an irrational IgE response. Among the more formidable and difficult to avoid are the droppings of the dust mite, a microscopic insect that thrives by the millions wherever dust collects in a house. Living on sloughed-off flecks of human skin (dander) and other unappetizing protein, it leaves droppings that are about the size of pollen grains -- and just as easy to inhale. Mite dung, unfortunately, is an allergen that produces the familiar sneezing, coughing, itching symptoms in half...
Equally lethal to some are insect bites, which cause a fatal allergic reaction in some 40 Americans each year. As many as 20% of people in the U.S. have a severe local response to bites from yellow jackets, hornets, honeybees, wasps and fire ants. An arm swollen to twice its normal size is not unusual. Of the 2 million annually whose reactions to stings spread throughout the body, a few hundred thousand will break out in hives and suffer shortness of breath. Yet, according to the estimate of Dr. Martin Valentine, an allergist at Johns Hopkins, half of those people...
Being aware offers little protection to those who fall prey to the kissing bug in Southwestern states. The dark brown insect, featuring a protruding proboscis and a splash of orange at the edge of its wings, strikes at night, quietly feasting on the blood of the slumbering victim. Most involuntary donors awaken the next morning itching from what seems to be a mosquito bite. But some immediately develop alarming and occasionally fatal allergic symptoms. Dr. Jacob Pinnas of the University of Arizona suggests that kissing- bug deaths may be underestimated. Some people who die in their sleep and have their...
...giant cockroach, which appeared to be a large painted chair atop a rusty red Radio Flyer wagon and adorned with signs reading "Kiss me," attracted the attention of passer-bys and several camera crews. The insect was led by three people dressed in togas, scraps of multi-colored cloth and a boot--on one of the men's head. All were running for president, but two--Guru Bonanza Swank and the Rev. Red Moses--had endorsed the cockroach...