Luke O'Neill

speaker

4,397 appearances 23 recordings 2 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 6d ago

Luke O'Neill’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 23 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 6.

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Show Me the Science with Luke O'Neill · The Science of Stings · 10 Sep 2026 podcast

Now the severe end of this, and sadly some people are very sort of reactive to wasp venom, it's called anaphylaxis is the word we use for it.

And that's when all these inflammatory mediators go through the roof, and especially if they're happening in the airways.

So sometimes the venom gets into the bloodstream, ends up affecting your lungs, and that means you can't breathe properly.

Sometimes people can't swallow.

This can be lethal, extremely rare, thankfully.

But some people have a milder version of it, very uncomfortable, and are wheezing, and their throats swell up, right?

And that can be the serious end.

So call 999, very important, if you're having serious consequences.

And doctors will give you adrenaline, the famous EpiPen.

because that can allow everything to relax.

The airways relax and you can swallow more.

So an EpiPen is the response to that.

And eventually it'll go away.

Your body will clear the venom from your body and you'll recover.

But as I say, that's the very rare event.

Most of us just have a very unpleasant feeling in the place where the wasp has stung you, you know, and eventually it'll go away.

Although in children, it can be, you know, very painful.

So if it is happening in children, a bit of a cold compress, you could take Calpol, I guess, for a child as well, it'd be fine.

And just sadly wait till all the unpleasantness passes.

That's the wasp venom.

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