Go Ahead and Scratch
WORTHY OF RESPECT—Rhus radicans, more commonly known as poison ivy, is out
in force in the spring woods in every state east of the Rocky Mountains. Dr. J. Lamar
Callaway, professor of dermatology, says scratching the dermatitis the plant causes in
many people will not spread it, but it's important to wash thoroughly after contact.
(Photo by Thad Sparks)
By David Williamson
When you were little and a walk in
the spring or summer woods gave
you poison ivy, did your mother tell
you not to scratch it?
Did she say the itchy blisters
would spread if you yielded to the
temptation?
Well, medical science can't replace
the love and concern a mother offers,
but it can set the record straight on
some misconceptions about poison
ivy and warm weather skin care.
Contrary to popular belief, once
poison ivy appears, scratching won't
cause it to spread any further,
according to Dr. J. Lamar Callaway,
professor of dermatology.
Scratching Won't Hurt
As a matter of fact, scratching
poison ivy does no harm at all,
unless you go overboard, break the
Intercom
Duke University Medical Center
VOLUME 24, NUMBER 20
MAY 20,1977
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
For Successful Transplants
Kidneys Flown to Copenhagen
By Joe Sigler
It was a busy Sunday and Monday
for the Duke-UNC organ
procurement team, but before it was
all over their work became
international in 5Cope and made
some history as well.
It all began early Sunday when the
program's coordinator, Duke
Physician's Associate Mike Phillips,
received word about an accident
victim at Cape Fear Valley Hospital
in Fayetteville whose family had
consented to donate his kidneys for
transplant.
Cape Fear is one of a growing
number of community hospitals in
the South East Organ Procurement
Foundation (SEOPF) network that
are cooperating in an educational
program to interest people in
becoming future donors and to
encourage the families of accident
victims in particular to consent to
removal of organs for transplant.
Life-Saving 'Harvest'
In their specially equipped van to
transport kidneys and other human
organs, Phillips and his assistant.
Physician's Associate Corbin
Peterson, and Steve Wallenhaupt, a
fourth-year medical student from
Bowman Gray School of Medicine
who is rotating at Duke, went to
Fayetteville and assisted a surgeon
remove, or "harvest," the kidneys.
The kidneys were from a person in
the rare AB blood group, which
Phillips said includes only about five
per cent of the population. Kidneys
must be matched, donor-
to-recipient, by blood group or the
recipient's body will reject the
transplanted organ. Even matching
identical blood groups does not
assure the success of a transplant.
For the next 10 hours after
returning to Duke, the team plus
Leon Hudgins, who operates the
SEOPF computer here, made calls
throughout the United States and to
Canada and to Mexico attempting to
locate kidney patients awaiting
transplants who were immu-
nologically compatible with the
available kidneys.
Finding a Recipient
None was found, so they contacted
Eurotransplant in the Netherlands,
the organ procurement network for
Europe. A suitable recipient was
located in Iran, but appropriate
transportation to get a kidney there
could not be arranged.
Two compatible recipients also
were located in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
While a transplant technician in
Copenhagen named Leo
(Continued on page 3)
skin and cause the same kind of
infection that can result from any cut
or scratch.
"Oil from the plant, its stem or its
root causes the dermatitis," the past
president of the American Academy
of Dermatology said. "If you get the
oil on your hand and then touch your
neck or your leg before w^ashing, you
can get it on the neck and legs also.
"But once you take a bath, you
can't spread poison ivy any more,"
he said.
The fluid that "oozes” and
"weeps" from poison ivy blisters
does not cause additional blisters to
form any more than the fluid from a
blister raised by a hot coffee burn
would cause more blisters to form,
the dermatologist said.
Appears To Spread
The reason poison ivy appears to
spread is because parts of the body
most exposed to the oil develop a
rash sooner than those parts that
receive only a slight exposure,
Callaway pointed out.
Oil from the plant, or from others
like poison sumac- and poison oak, is
not really a poison at all, he said, but
rather it is an allergen.
"A given person may be sensitive
to any plant. It's unusual for
someone to be allergic to roses, for
example, but it's possible, and the
dermatitis would be essentially the
same," Callaway noted.
Avoid It
He said there are a lot more people
who think they are immune to
poison ivy than are, in fact, immune.
Some people become sensitive to the
plant only after many years of
periodic exposure, so it is a good
idea for everyone, even those who
like to boast they don't get it, to
avoid poison ivy.
Poison ivy with its three shiny
leaflets is found in every state in the
continental United States except
California and Nevada, Callaway
said. Poison oak grows only in the
Pacific Coast states, and poison
sumac can be found in most states
east of the Mississippi River.
An oak leaf form of poison ivy
flourishes in the southeast, he
added.
(Continued on page 4)
Message from the Administration
In the past few weeks a small group calling itself Duke Workers
Organizing Committee (DWOC) has been passing out propaganda in
front of the hospital.
This group has no official standing with the Union and, as near as we
can determine, is simply a new cover for the 6ld "Tell It Like It Is"
Communist Workers Committee.
Duke has no intention of answering all the statements printed in their
propaganda. They so obviously misuse the truth that it is an insult to
everyone's intelligence.
They also seem to want credit for everything positive Duke University
does. The reinstatement of Buddy Taylor is a good case in point. DWOC
stated they "forced" Duke to take back Buddy Taylor. Actually, Buddy
Taylor was returned to work because under Duke Policy he was
erroneously terminated. His reinstatement gives further credibility to the
employee grievance procedure, not to DWOC.
— Medical Center Administration
/ W/;/- /m'
THE MED STUDENTS’ CHOICE—Or. Linda A. Clayton, obstetrics-gynecology
resident, proudly shows colleagues her Golden Apple Award. Congratulating her at
left is Dr. Charles B. HammorKJ, associate professor of obstetrics-gynecology.
Golden Apple Awards also went to Dr. David C. Sabiston, professor and chairman of
surgery, and Dr. Bernard F. Fetter, professor of pathology. See p. 3 for the story.
(Photo by John Becton)