Noting that poison ivy leaves, having fallen off in the fall, are supposed to contain less of the urushiol oil that causes the rash, here is the story from the owner of this nasty rash:

“For seven years I was hiking, camping and being outdoors a lot. Was never cautious about poison ivy. For the first 3 years in US I didn’t even know about poison plants. And I had no problem until…

One day I decided to pick up some fallen leaves on my backyard. I still don’t understand what exactly I touched. Probably some poison ivy leaves or vines were blown in from the outside and I accidentally grabbed them.

The itchy rash and blisters appeared on my arm 3 days later. I guess I was spreading the oil through my clothes, linen and towel during those 3 days.

I was prescribed 4 days of Prednisone. After I stopped Prednisone even more rash appeared. Eventually I ended up in ER with itchy rash all over my body and face and a bacterial skin infection. I was prescribed 3 weeks of higher Prednisone dose with antibiotics.

Every night is still an itchy nightmare. But at least I get rid of skin infection thanks to antibiotics.

And one more thing… couple of days ago I kicked the sweatshirt laying on the floor of my laundry room (I was wearing it on the day of contact). Saying: “I need to throw it away!”. I kicked it with my bare foot.

The same day a new rash with small blisters appeared on the foot and new wave of body rash began the next day.

I still love nature, but some plants will stay forever in my black list.”