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Tick Bites
Published in Charles Theisler, Adjuvant Medical Care, 2023
Removal: The tick can be grasped with clean, fine-tipped forceps or tweezers. The tick should be pulled out smoothly and gently without twisting. After the tick is removed, the bite area should be cleaned with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. For tick paralysis, tick removal is curative.2
Animals amusing and assisting humans
Published in Clive R. Hollin, An Introduction to Human–Animal Relationships, 2021
Another use of detection dogs lies in finding animals we see as problematic. The small oval, reddish insect Cimex lectularius, better known as the bed bug, has plagued humans for millennia (Panagiotakopulu & Buckland, 1999). An adult nocturnal bed bug is typically between 5 and 7 mm in size and does not fly, but it can move rapidly within a room. The female can lay hundreds of eggs, each about the size of a speck of dust, over a lifetime. The bed bug lives on the blood of animals or humans and their bites can leave small red bumps surrounded by blisters in a tell-tale line or zigzag pattern. Needless to say, bed bugs are unwanted and if they infest a hotel, they are a major problem. However, their size and secretiveness makes them difficult to detect, making eradication extremely difficult (Figure 6.4).
Heterocyclic Drugs from Plants
Published in Rohit Dutt, Anil K. Sharma, Raj K. Keservani, Vandana Garg, Promising Drug Molecules of Natural Origin, 2020
Debasish Bandyopadhyay, Valeria Garcia, Felipe Gonzalez
Malaria is preventable and curable (Malaria, 2018). Malaria is still prevalent in tropical &subtropical countries (latitudes closer to the equator) (Koppen Climate Classification, 2018). The African region carry the lion’s share of the global malaria burden. The WHO and other health-related organizations are working to reduce malaria by recommending insecticide-treated bed nets to protect people from infected mosquito bites in the endemic areas (Global Response to Malaria at Crossroads, 2017). Furthermore, many research groups are working to discover vaccine to prevent malaria (Malaria, 2018). Only in 2016, there were an estimated 216 million people of 91 countries diagnosed as malaria patients, which was an inflation of around 5 million cases over 2015. About 445,000 malaria patients died in 2016. In the year 2016, the African region held 90% of all malaria population and 91% of all malaria deaths. To fight this disease, funding for both malaria control (prevention) and treatment has reached an estimated US$2.7 billion in 2016. Malaria has been labeled as an acute febrile illness having an gestation period of one week or longer (Malaria, 2018). In a non-immune individual, symptoms (fever, headache, and chills) appear in 10–15 days after infective mosquito bite. Since the earlier symptoms are apparently common, it is difficult to diagnose at early stage. Furthermore, if malignant malaria is not treated timely, P. falciparum may progress to severe illness including death.
Is there actual clinical evidence of necrosis following the Steatoda nobilis bite?
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2022
Giovanni Paolino, Piergiorgio Di Pompeo, Matteo R. Di Nicola
The venom of S. nobilis is mainly characterized by α-latrotoxins, δ-latroinsectotoxins, latrodectins and enzymes [2], which explains both systemic and local clinical signs, like ulceration and erosion. Necrosis is an inappropriate term referring to a spectrum of morphologic changes that follow cell death in tissues, and it is divisible in six main types: coagulative, liquefactive, caseous, gangrenous, fat and fibrinoid necrosis [3]. Gangrenous necrosis is the one mainly involved in spider bites, as it is induced mostly by proteolytic enzymes that cause cell death (e.g., sphingomyelinase in Loxosceles sp.) [4]. Necrosis induced by spider bites clinically shows specific and progressive pathognomonic aspects, such as prodromal swelling and blisters, followed by a cutaneous discoloration ranging from pale to blue, purple, black, bronze or red. The damaged tissue develops into dark black color, always resulting in a clinically evident scar due to dermal and hypodermic damage.
Serological testing for Lyme Borreliosis in general practice: A qualitative study among Dutch general practitioners
Published in European Journal of General Practice, 2020
Tjitske M. Vreugdenhil, Mariska Leeflang, Joppe W. Hovius, Hein Sprong, Jettie Bont, C. W. Ang, Jeanette Pols, Henk C. P. M. Van Weert
With increased incidence of tick bites and Lyme Borreliosis (LB) in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe [1,2], public concern has come up about diagnostic practices for LB. On the one hand, there are concerns about missed and delayed diagnoses of LB. On the other hand, there are worries about incorrect diagnosis of LB, which may cause distress and treatment-related illness [3,4]. As gatekeepers of the health care system, Dutch general practitioners (GPs) are the first to be approached by patients with questions regarding LB. In the Netherlands, early-localised LB is a rather common disease whereas disseminated LB rarely occurs [5]. Early localised LB often presents with a typical annular rash, Erythema Migrans (EM), and occasionally with a Borrelial lymphocytoma. Early localised LB may also pass unnoticed [6]. Characteristic manifestations of disseminated LB are facial nerve palsy, meningo-radiculitis, arthritis and less frequently carditis, acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans and ocular symptoms [6]. Non-specific symptoms like fatigue, myalgia, arthralgia and fever can occur in localised and disseminated LB [7], but also occur frequently without objective signs of LB.
Myelopathy in West Nile virus encephalitis: Report of a case and review of literature
Published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2020
Jayantee Kalita, Amar Vibhute, Mritunjai Kumar, Usha K. Misra
Our patient had encephalomyelitis due to WNV infection and remained wheelchair bound due to necrotizing transverse myelopathy. Encephalitis was consistent with fever, headache, seizure, altered sensorium, CSF pleocytosis and cranial MRI showing brainstem involvement. The complete transection of spinal cord involvement was consistent with persistent flaccid paraplegia, electromyography showing evidence of anterior horn cell involvement (fibrillations and sharp waves), unrecordable tibial somatosensory findings and MRI revealing both horizontal and vertical extensive signal changes. About 80% of WNV infected individuals remain asymptomatic. Symptomatic illness develops 2–14 days following mosquito bite. About 20% of patients develop self-limited flu-like illness characterized by fever, myalgia, headache, gastrointestinal disturbance (20–30%) with a maculopapular rash in 25–50%. The CNS invasion of WNV is considered to be a part of hematological dissemination and WNV gains entry after disruption of blood-brain barrier by proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). In the brain, WNV can infect and replicate in various types of cells, including neurons, astrocytes, microglial cells and anterior horn cells.