A fair haired, 22-year-old restaurant waitress bought two laundry products to wash her soiled uniforms.
She bought them thinking that they would whiten and brighten her laundry, as the package advertisements promised. She did her wash and 12 days later showed symptoms of having intestinal flu. She had chills, a fever, and an itching and stinging in her vagina as well as all over her body. She gradually became worse and was hospitalized. She had developed a rash which was red, itchy and painful from her waist to her knees. She remained hospitalized for several weeks and was totally disabled for three months. After she was released, the doctors realized that the cause of her problem had been a severe allergic reaction to the detergents in her wash.[78]