Sporotrichosis

[davidpingu]

I've actually found a subject that I don't think has been discussed on here yet and that's no mean feat!

I started reading up on sphagnum moss today as I've obviously heard about its many uses.

One of things it's famous for is as a wound dressing due to its natural iodine content. But then I came across the subject of Sporotrichosis. Apparently sphagnum is known to harbour the spores that can enter open wounds and cause this disease.

Perhaps this is why in the world wars they sterilised the moss before using it to dress wounds?

Just interested on people's opinions on if they would still say it's safe to use this as a makeshift dressing if needed or if they'd squeeze water from it straight to mouth like you see on the TV shows?

Or is it just one of those pure survival techniques used when the risk of dehydration or blood loss/infection is greater than the risk of contracting disease?

Cheers,

Dave

 

[ozzy1977]

Sounds like a nasty bugger, not heard of it before.

 

[Toddy]

Me neither.....and I have used and do use sphagnum moss for all sorts of things. Can't say I've used it as a wound dressing however, though I have used it for it's absorbant properties.
My father minded going with his grandfather out onto the moor/hills to gather sack loads of the stuff to be used for wound dressings, during the first world war. My father was born in 1911 so he was just a wee boy at the time.

One would think that if it were an issue of much bother then we'd hear more of it

Off for a read

M

 

[Barn Owl]

Wouldn't stop me using it, everything medicinal manufactured is a compromise (side effects), so natural products are always going to have their own spoilers.
Like you say Dave, benefits outweigh the risk.

 

[Toddy]

Apparantly though it is known world wide it is most commonly an issue in the tropical and subtropical Americas, and it has become a recent issue because it can be a real problem for those with compromised immune systems, like the folks with HIV and other AIDS related health morbidities.

Ehm, I think if I broke out in any of those purple pustles that developed into chronic ulcers I'd be seeing the Doctor anyway.
From what I can find it appears to be known here as Rose Gardener's disease, so you're probably more likely to get it from your rose bed or moggie than you are from sphagnum moss.

cheers,
M

 

[xylaria]

[ADULT CONTENT]
Mosses can breed infection. I story I was told a few years ago by a female who went for a romantic weekend in the woods. She and her companion "fell over a few logs". A few days later she noticed a smell and pulled out a piece of moss. She took antibotics. Her companion was rather cross because he thought he contracted a social disease [she said he wanted know how he got a rash on his love spoon and so for some reason asked me!!!!]. The moss probably had other matter mixed with it. It certainly was not antibotic enough to prevent infection in this case. I did know about spirotrichosis, mainly because this couple thought they had caught a dose.

 

[Toddy]

Oooh nasty

I have used carefully picked clean and dry moss folded up inside a clean linen hankie when camping and no supplies or shops nearby. It worked fine, and I had no problems whatsoever, I hasten to add. I know that it used to be used like that for babies too, especially tiny ones in swaddling clothes.

I have a hellish reaction to rose thorns though the scratches always fester, yet the same roses don't seem to bother HWMBLT or my neighbour over the fence who prunes the roses her side, either. I thought it was just my 'sensitive' skin.

I usually just use the moss to make flower arrangementy things, wreaths and the like, or to line hanging baskets.

Better aware than ignorant I suppose.

atb,
M

 

[xylaria]

rose thorns are nasty for infections, seabuckthorn are worse.

 

[Toddy]

The site at Merthyr Mawr is surrounded by the stuff down towards the river It's actually quite scary looking in such massive quantities. I know I kept a wary distance from it, though I was itching to try it for dye. It has a really useful list of properties for everything from healing to VitC too.

Makes you wonder though; roses are so blooming useful. The petals, the hips, the oil, the long stems for basketry handles, etc., Nothing noxious in any of that lot, but the thorns are a misery.

atb,
M

 

[petrochemicals]

hazarding a guess iodines what kills bio nasties so, maybe the good stuff is free of it, just avoid the stuff thats stagnant ?!?

Roses are tetanus, dead thorns infectious and Shakespeare is the poet.

 

[Teepee]

I've been using sphagnum for minor wound dressings for a few years now without problem-longer as natures wet wipe . I have heard of the infection bfore but I figure that it ranks very low in the risk stakes when everything is taken into account.

Its usually wet and so cleans the wound as well as absorbing some of the blood. I have only used it on niggly little cuts though on myself, if it was something approaching stitches then I'd crack the FAK open.

I have noticed the amazing variety of different mosses and how much dirt they seem to hold onto sometimes. The best I find is the very thick stuff that is far enough away from the floor to not get splashed from rain hitting the floor, or the much brighter green, almost fern-like moss that often grows on old stumps.

 

[Toddy]

Mosses contain some brilliant things
Fir bog clubmoss accretes alum in it's root system, and that was used for dye mordant.
Sphagnum is antibacterial, and funnily enough fungicidal ....apparantly not to this one
The growing mosslands were used to store food, like packages of butter, in the past too.
Acidic and they preferentially dissolve minerals, so things like bone leaches out to collagen but it preserves skin and hair and thus the bog bodies.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Teepee]

Mosses contain some brilliant things
Fir bog clubmoss accretes alum in it's root system, and that was used for dye mordant.
Sphagnum is antibacterial, and funnily enough fungicidal ....apparantly not to this one
The growing mosslands were used to store food, like packages of butter, in the past too.
Acidic and they preferentially dissolve minerals, so things like bone leaches out to collagen but it preserves skin and hair and thus the bog bodies.

cheers,
Toddy

Pine needles aren't one of them. :yikes:

I'd guess the Sporotrichosis must be immune from the mosses fungicidal properties. The odd mushroom finds its way through too.

 

[Toddy]

True, true It definitely needs picked clean before use
We find a lot of birch trying to grow in the mosses around Lanarkshire, there are regular de-birching sessions. The trees are stunted and you can literally just pull them straight up out of the moss. Loads of other plants thrive among them too though. Crowberries, sundews, etc., quite fascinating places really. Lots of moths and butterflies too.

cheers,
M