Is it normal to lose a dangerous amount of blood from small wounds?

[LisaLiel]

I read a case concerning a girl, in the late 19th Century in Budapest, who was employed as a servant for a man and his group. One evening she was invited to a feast and was put to sleep with a drink. She awoke so weak she could barely walk, and she noticed strange pains in her limbs. On her right upper arm, her left thigh and above her navel were small, blood-red spots, and in the middle of these round spots, was a small opening. She assumed the men sucked out a large amount of her blood and she left the service because of this.

It sounds like she lost a huge amount of blood but the way it was described, these were only little wounds. It doesn't sound like any blood was flowing out her wounds when she woke up. Why not? It doesn't sound like they went for her arteries since she didn't mention she had any of these cuts on her neck, inside the elbow, forearm, etc.

So I'm wondering why she lost so much blood.

[imatfaal]

It is of course possible that the entire story is fiction.

 

You can lose a lot of blood from a tiny hole - we can give half a pint of blood easily through a needle. As long as no exposure to air you won't get clotting (nb very simplistic - it is more complex than this)

[LisaLiel]

What if they sucked the blood via those wounds? Since this happened in 1879 I'll assume they did it via the mouth

or would their saliva have caused it to clot anyway?

Edited April 9, 2015 by LisaLiel

[BadSciencer]

Hi - I frequent another science forum, and the OP here is very trolly indeed, and has been banned over there - they posted this same post there today as well, and is probably the same previously banned poster for similar posts in the past.

 

Why banned? Well, its a pretty rare occurrence, but this is how it's going to go on this thread:

 

* initial post about bloodsucking

* replies calling for evidence

* "evidence" in form of 1934 article in Nazi propaganda publication Der Sturm and other articles regarding Jewish ritual murders

* realisation that troll poster is talking about the massively debunked blood libel, and it's all gone a bit anti semitic.

 

Thanks for reading.

Edited April 9, 2015 by BadSciencer

[hypervalent_iodine]

!

Moderator Note

Hi BadSciencer,

You might have noticed that this forum is not the forum from whence you came. We appreciate your insight, but you would do well to leave any bad blood at the door when you come in, as we do not punish members for their actions elsewhere on the Internet.

Unless you have something constructive or relevant to contribute here, kindly don't bother.

Do not respond to this note in-thread.

[LisaLiel]

I'm going to assume that they did not get any arteries as it seems unlikely in the places that the girl said the wounds were.

 

Is it known if human saliva would contain anti-coagulating factors? Vampire bat saliva does, but I'm not sure about human saliva.

[hypervalent_iodine]

!

Moderator Note

Acme, you might the big green note I made above, whereing I requested another member to leave drama from the other forum at the door. Did you think that wouldn't apply to you too? Stay on topic, please. I have removed your comment and I will be removing any more comments that derail this thread.

Edit: http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/72973-comments-on-moderation/page-2#entry862837

[Acme]

What if they sucked the blood via those wounds? Since this happened in 1879 I'll assume they did it via the mouth

or would their saliva have caused it to clot anyway?

What is the context of your questions Lisa?

I mean to say, who were 'they'? Was it a medical setting? What was the group? Why do you assume the weakness was due to blood loss? Couldn't the weakness be due to the alleged drink?

Do you have a reference link?