Anybody else get sick messing w live rock?

[Jhuneke]

I thought it was a fluke that my whole family got a bad cold the night of my transfer.. But now after feeling better over a couple days, I redid my rockscape and INSTANTLY my son ( was helping me) and I began sneezing like a crazy and even a bit of coughing.. Noses are runnin like a faucet .. I didn't scrub, or treat rock.. Only removed from tank and repositioned. But this can't be a coincidence AGAIN..



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[Rrocky]

No glove no love mang lol! I always wear gloves when handling stuff in the tank those rocks are low key sharp! There has been a cold/flu bug going around tho...

 

[ndrwater]

Different people react differently, but... Sponges and other small stuff on live rock can be slightly toxic. My suggestion would be to wear gloves like [MENTION=6103]Rrocky[/MENTION] said in the future.
If your symptoms persist, take a trip to the Dr. Sometimes repeated exposure can cause worsening effects. Always better safe than sorry.

Hope you and the family feel better.

 

[Jhuneke]

Thanks.. It's weird. We were super effected fir the first night. Then cleared up.. And redid it 2 days later and bam! It's crazy.. I can't imagine how it could be airborne.. But it's just so strange how it coincides ..rock work and symptoms, hand in hand. The sneezing is ridic!!


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[h20poloman]

we often take it for granted but we can have some very dangerous stuff in our tanks. I had a few odd episodes and read some articles that gave me enough reason to start wearing gloves anytime I was going to touch or mount corals in my tanks. I also always wear protective eyewear when I frag. Probably should have a face shield really.

Here is even a very recent incident in Alaska on the CDC website
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6431a4.htm

 

[Jhuneke]

Good read! Thank you for sharing! On a now RELATED note..
We took my son to ER the morning after the transfer. His eye was terribly swollen and blood red throughout! It started the day of transfer with what he said felt like something in his eye. He did help me add rock ti display
Next morning it was really bad.. Told Doctor at ER about the palytoxin possibility. He said 'could be' .. And treated son for corneal abrasion. I had no idea that handling rocks could present problem. I do have paly rocks that we handle bare handed. I assumed ( regrettably) that as long as we didn't touch our faces and washed our hands all would be fine. Had never heard about dermal contact being dangerous. Only eyes and of course ingestion. I feel so horrible now that I know I likely caused my son's injury .. I assumed at the time it was a bit of sand or something he got in his eye, so we flushed it out and it just worsened over night to this

This is the day after he had 3 doses of the eye rx..
I will never put a hand in my tank with out a glove again.. And just plain not let anyone else at all.
How stupid I feel causing this.
Lesson learned


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[gumbii]

yup... reef systems are full of nasty bacteria and aids....

 

[will21xl]

I've also had read that zoas can release toxins in the air as well that can cause sickness from time to time.. symptoms would be lethargic, dizziness, consistent fever, vomiting and I forgot the others

 

[MadMax]

yup... reef systems are full of nasty bacteria and aids....

My Mom used to eat Aids when I was a kid.

no kidding



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfFs0o6pCxc

 

[red13]

A few years back I did a rescape on a 135 cube. The next day my left ear was red and swollen. A couple of days later the whole left side of my face was swollen and very painful. Turned out I had cellulits, a bacterial infection in the skin. It landed me in the hospital for three days on a liver killing iv drip. My infectious disease Dr, thought it came from the live rock.

 

[ngvu1]

Oh my. The pictures are so graphic making me think twice putting my hands down the reef. So far I never put on the gloves and the only thing that bothers me was the nem sting. I don't have much issue with putting my hand in the DT. The sump is a bit more nervous for me as I have no clue what the heck is down there after 3 years of settle rubble rocks. I hope your son is getting well fast.....

 

[gumbii]

My Mom used to eat Aids when I was a kid.

no kidding



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfFs0o6pCxc

HAHAHAjfsa;lfjas;df;AHHAHAHAHAKSfjsd;fjsa;dfj

 

[BeanMachine]

Good read! Thank you for sharing! On a now RELATED note..
We took my son to ER the morning after the transfer. His eye was terribly swollen and blood red throughout! It started the day of transfer with what he said felt like something in his eye. He did help me add rock ti display
Next morning it was really bad.. Told Doctor at ER about the palytoxin possibility. He said 'could be' .. And treated son for corneal abrasion. I had no idea that handling rocks could present problem. I do have paly rocks that we handle bare handed. I assumed ( regrettably) that as long as we didn't touch our faces and washed our hands all would be fine. Had never heard about dermal contact being dangerous. Only eyes and of course ingestion. I feel so horrible now that I know I likely caused my son's injury .. I assumed at the time it was a bit of sand or something he got in his eye, so we flushed it out and it just worsened over night to this

This is the day after he had 3 doses of the eye rx..
I will never put a hand in my tank with out a glove again.. And just plain not let anyone else at all.
How stupid I feel causing this.
Lesson learned


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Wow dang sorry to hear. Looks painful. It's not your fault it could have happened to anybody.

We all have the habit of touching our face and rubbing our eyes without even knowing. Much more likely than paly toxin going airborne in my opinion.

 

[Jhuneke]

Thanks.. But it's tough to see ur kid suffer from your mistakes
The respiratory stuff is lingering a bit.. But improving at least.

For anybody that has had the eye AIDS from palytoxin..
Is it treated differently than say a corneal abrasion?
He's been using the antibiotic ointment for 2.5 days now with little improvement .. Gentax ( gentamicin sulfate .3%)
3x daily..
Thinking I might bring him back in again ..



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[gumbii]

we see this all too much in this hobby... sadly, this can happen to any of us.. i got poisoned by fraging... darn palytoxin... i died...





we need to be a lot more careful... IMO, gloves is over kill when just moving things around... but when handling heavy live rocks, i always wear thick work gloves, or else i won't touch anything... them tube warm barbs are sharp and i have seen people get nasty infections like reed mentioned... cellulitus, MRSA, staph... it's crazy nasty... and people can and have died from them infections... everyone wear eye protection, make sure to be careful when handling live rock, and wash your hands right... don't die forever like gumbii...

 

[Jhuneke]

Lmao 'die forever like Gumbii'

 

[adrianocampo]

Good read! Thank you for sharing! On a now RELATED note..
We took my son to ER the morning after the transfer. His eye was terribly swollen and blood red throughout! It started the day of transfer with what he said felt like something in his eye. He did help me add rock ti display
Next morning it was really bad.. Told Doctor at ER about the palytoxin possibility. He said 'could be' .. And treated son for corneal abrasion. I had no idea that handling rocks could present problem. I do have paly rocks that we handle bare handed. I assumed ( regrettably) that as long as we didn't touch our faces and washed our hands all would be fine. Had never heard about dermal contact being dangerous. Only eyes and of course ingestion. I feel so horrible now that I know I likely caused my son's injury .. I assumed at the time it was a bit of sand or something he got in his eye, so we flushed it out and it just worsened over night to this

This is the day after he had 3 doses of the eye rx..
I will never put a hand in my tank with out a glove again.. And just plain not let anyone else at all.
How stupid I feel causing this.
Lesson learned


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This looked like my eyes..

But after mixing salt several times in a single day. I'm assuming the powder from the salt went into my eyes? not sure..
It was a horrible feeling.
Woke up from the pain at 3 am and went to the ER.
It felt as if there was constant smoke going into my eyes. Burning sensation, couldnt keep my eyes open.

They flushed my eyes and it started getting better.
In total it lasted 3 days.

Now I wear goggles for everything! and gloves!
specially for mixing salt and fragging.

 

[gonumber24]

Wow - I've been very lucky in my many years of this hobby. Maybe it's my science background and many years in a lab but I don't use p.p.e.

I hope your son gets better!