But if you go looking in the medical literature, you'll find even rarer allergies - such as allergies to water, and even the male sexual ejaculate, the semen. The reaction of the poor unfortunate sufferer can range from a mild skin rash and a little bit of local itching, through swelling around the eyes, sneezing, nasal congestion, vomiting and diarrhoea, right up to the very frightening response where the airways swell so much that you're in severe danger of dying from lack of air. Well, the semen has two parts - the sperm, and the liquid that they swim in. This liquid is made up of secretions from various glands such as the prostate gland, Cowper's glands, the seminal vesicles, and probably the urethral glands.
Some scientists are pretty sure that the prostate gland releases the dangerous chemicals.
The very first case of an allergic reaction to human semen was reported by Specken back in 1958. Since then, we've had probably less than 100 cases in the medical literature. She would have a family history of some kind of allergic disorder, plus a personal history of asthma. But, if her partner used a condom, there would be absolutely no symptoms at all. In a few cases, the woman's allergy to semen began after either the woman or the man had had some kind of surgery to the genital tract - such as a man having a partial removal of his prostate, or a woman having a removal of her uterus.