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There have been many cases of people have allergic reactions just after getting a tattoo . But for one man in England , the response was delayed , coming 20 years after he incur his tattoo , agree to a new report of his fount .
The 54 - year - old man had recently completed chemotherapy for the blood line cancer lymphoma , and had just undergone abone - marrow transplantusing his own electric cell . Six days after , when his immune system was still suppressed because of the procedure , he developed a feverishness .
In this image of the patient’s tattoo, skin lesions as a result of delayed reaction to red ink have healed, leaving peeling skin behind.
Looking for the cause of the fever , medico get hold newly formed hide lesions on the red - ink parts of hisold tattoo , resemble the supersensitive response that some people experience when they get a new tattoo .
" While discriminating crimson - ink tattoo reactions are well documented , a case of a tattoo reaction with a delay of more than two decades has not been previously draw , " said Dr. George Chapman , who treat the man . [ 14 Oddest Medical Case Reports ]
Although most people who get such reaction to tattoo ink are allergic to one of the ingredients in the ink , this was likely not the case for this affected role , said Chapman , of Churchill Hospital in England .
" Given this was a pearl - marrow graft of the affected role ’s own bone inwardness , his immune system should be near very ( in terms of what his resistant system reacts to , and what it has seen before ) both before and after the organ transplant , " Chapman say Live Science in an electronic mail .
" I believe that immune - system suppression was the trigger for the reaction , Chapman said .
Most likely , the tattooing done ten ago hadintroduced bacteriainto the man ’s body , and those bacteria were held at bay laurel by a sound immune organization , Chapman explained . But once the immune system was compromise by chemotherapy , those bacteria found an opportunity to make trouble .
In fact , three Clarence Shepard Day Jr. later , when the patient ’s resistant system returned to normal , the wound healed , leave only flake off peel behind [ Image of the tattoo reaction ]
The patient refuse a biopsy , so it continue unsung which bacteria may have have the chemical reaction .
However , it is also possible that the reaction was not due to an infection , Chapman said . Rather , an ingredient in the ink might have interacted with one of the chemotherapy drugs to shape a new chemical compound . This new molecule could have then appeared Modern to the immune system , and caused a reaction , Chapman enunciate .
The report was print Jan. 10 in the journal BMJ Case Reports .
