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Centipedes
Published in Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard, The Goddard Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance, Seventh Edition, 2019
Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard
Centipedes are long, multisegmented arthropods that characteristically have one pair of legs per body segment (millipedes have two pairs per segment). They are agile, fast-moving creatures that can inflict a painful bite.1 In fact, some of the larger species can produce extreme pain.2–4 The venom is a cytolysin-based compound. Most human centipede bites result when a centipede is stepped on or picked up, or otherwise contacts the body. Centipede bites are rarely fatal to humans, but at least one death has been reported, in which a child from the Philippines was bitten on the head and the poison apparently entered the brain.5 Members of the genus Scolopendra can be 20–25 cm long and produce bites with intense burning pain lasting 1–5 hours. The bite is characterized by two puncture wounds at the site of attack, often red and swollen. Other symptoms may include anxiety, vomiting, irregular pulse, dizziness, and headache.6 Secondary infections can occur, and superficial necrosis at the bite site may persist for several days. There is at least one report of anaphylaxis resulting from a centipede bite (Scolopendra subspinipes).7 In addition to their bites, large species have claws that can make tiny punctures if they crawl on human skin.
Centipede Envenomation Effects on Human Beings and Scientific Research on Traditional Antivenom Agents
Published in Parimelazhagan Thangaraj, Medicinal Plants, 2018
Dhivya Sivaraj, Revathi Ponnusamy, Rahul Chandran, Parimelazhagan Thangaraj
Centipedes belong to Class Chilopoda and have Myriapod lineages. There are about 3500 species worldwide within five orders: Scutigeromorpha, Lithobiomorpha, Craterostigmomorpha, Geophilomorpha and Scolopendromorpha; all except Geophilomorpha assault humans (Eivind et al. 2011). The Scolopendromorpha includes the genus Scolopendra, which is the largest and most dangerous (Bush et al. 2001) and is found to be cosmopolitan in India (Vinod 2006). Centipede bites are a major health problem among the rural community, and in 2014, the Tamil Nadu centipede bite rate was 17.8 per 1000 members of the population (Murugan et al. 2014).
Patients with centipede bites presenting to a university hospital in Bangkok: a 10-year retrospective study
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2021
Supa Niruntarai, Kanlayakorn Rueanpingwang, Rittirak Othong
362 cases were identified using the ICD-10 codes from X2400 – X2499. Ninety-six and 21 cases were excluded because the medical records could not be retrieved and because of insufficient data to confirm centipede envenomation, respectively. A total of 245 cases were included in this study. Over the 10-year-period of the study, there were a total of 667,324 cases who presented to the ED. The prevalence of centipede envenomation (all centipede bite cases over the 10-year period/all ED cases over the same period) was 0.0367%. Figure 1 shows the prevalence of centipede envenomation by year which ranges from 0.010% to 0.069%. ED visits from centipede bites occurred more often during the transition from the rainy season to the winter (from October through December) (Figure 2).
Complex regional pain syndrome following a centipede bite: a case report
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2020
Suthimon Thumtecho, Jonathan Schimmel, Satariya Trakulsrichai
Centipede bite inflicts injury by direct trauma, and its venom contains numerous enzymes such as phospholipase A2 and non-enzymatic proteins such as neurotoxins [1,2]. The bite commonly causes pain and transient acute local inflammation, which may take several days to resolve. Skin necrosis and delayed local hypersensitivity reactions are reported [3]. Centipede envenomation has very rarely been linked to severe systemic effects, such as allergic reaction and myocardial infarction [1].