Poison Ivy Myth/Thing?

Can poison ivy spread on your body or to other people???? most people say it can but someone else told me otherwise and said everyone else is told wrong? Whos right????

Poison Ivy Myth/Thing?
i called poison control once and they told me when you touch poison ivy, the plant's oil gets on your body. We are allergic to it so when we scratch it triggers chemicals in our body to fight it and thus we break out. yes it can be spread and yes you can give it to others because it is very difficult to wash the oil off and it gets on anything it has contact with...
Reply:I think it can, but I'm no doctor.....
Reply:This is a tough myth to dispel because scratching the red area appears to spread the rash to other areas. Actually, the reaction develops over a period of time - usually taking hours or days to occur. The occurrence of a new rash, say further up the arm, doesn't mean the rash was spread but that that area was slower to respond to the poisonous oil.





Once the oil triggers the reaction, our own bodies release defensive chemicals that cause the redness, itching, and blistering. The blister fluid doesn't come from the plant at all but is produced by our own


body.
Reply:It depends on what you mean exactly.





If I touch poison ivy, getting urushiol (the oily substance people react to) on my hand, then I come over %26amp; touch you, I might easily get the substance on you, thereby spreading it to you.





But it takes about 24 hours for poison ivy to do it's thing. So by the time I have a rash, the "urushiol" has either bonded with my skin or washed off. Therefore, if I touch you then, I will no longer be able to "infect" you.





If you come in contact with poison ivy, clean yourself thouroughly with alchohol, or better yet, "Goop" hand cleaner, (often found in the automotive section) BEFORE washing with soap %26amp; water.