Blogtrek

Anaphylactic Shock

This weekend while running through the woods, I hit a wasp nest and got stung four times. It seems to be OK now but it did hurt at first. The sting puts in a "peptide" which has no lasting effect but it does cause the area to swell at first. My main fear was "anaphylactic shock". I looked this up and found that it was the immune system reacting or overreacting to the attack by the wasps. This can cause much worse problems than the original stings - it can cause shortness of breath and in some cases death. That is why some people when they go out in to the woods must carry an antidote kit with them in case this happens.

When I found out about this, I thought of another case which could be called anaphylactic shock, namely Planeattack, the terrorist attacks of 2001 September 11. They were devastating, especially to some people, but as a whole it just hurt a bit and the nation continued to function after about two months. Sort of like the wasp stings. However, the aftereffects of this attack are still continuing to be fought. There are much tighter restrictions on air travel now. Access to military bases is much stricter. There is a national alert system, and the Patriot Act, which throws a lot of constitutional provisions out the window, was passed. I wonder if this is a case of national anaphylactic shock. I hope not, but certainly the Patriot Act needs to be repealed.