{"id":1040,"date":"2023-01-06T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T22:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/?post_type=chapter&p=1040"},"modified":"2023-01-13T16:02:51","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T21:02:51","slug":"bites-and-stings-arthropod-bites","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/chapter\/bites-and-stings-arthropod-bites\/","title":{"raw":"Bites and Stings: Arthropod bites","rendered":"Bites and Stings: Arthropod bites"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n

What are they?<\/h1>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\nArthropods are\u202fa phylum that includes\u202farachnids and insects. Many arthropods such as mosquitoes, fleas, ticks and flies bite humans as a source of nutrition or as a part of their life cycle.\u202fArthropod bites themselves can also cause significant morbidity, particularly in children, where they can lead to exaggerated reactions with formation of blisters and intense itching. Scratched lesions may become secondarily infected leading to impetigo, abscesses, or cellulitis. It is often difficult to tell the source of the bite based on clinical morphology, but there are a few clues. Bed bug bites typically occur overnight on exposed skin and are clustered. Flea bites are commonly seen on lower extremities, but more widespread on toddlers who are closer to the ground. Mosquito bites are most prevalent on exposed skin, and chigger (larval mites) lesions are most prevalent on covered skin. In endemic areas, arthropods may\u202falso carry diseases such as malaria, zika, and dengue\u202fthat are transmitted by mosquitos, as well as\u202frickettsial\u202fillnesses\u202fincluding\u202fRocky Mountain spotted fever<\/strong>\u202f(caused by\u202fRickettsia\u202frickettsii) and\u202fLyme disease<\/strong>\u202f(caused by\u202fBorrelia burgdorferi)\u202fthat\u202fare transmitted by ticks.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1066\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"\" Image 12.8: Bullous arthropod bites demonstrating individual pruritic lesions with central blister and surrounding erythema[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
\r\n

How can bites be managed?<\/h1>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nPrevention of bites is an important part of management. The approach is multifaceted and can include: use of repellants containing DEET (with concentration less than 10% for use in pediatrics), avoidance of areas where it is clear bites are occurring and treatment of pets for fleas and ticks. Thorough inspection of the household and\/or use of professional exterminators should be considered in\u202fcases where the bites are suspected to be occurring at home. In terms of the bites themselves, oral antihistamines can lessen the itching and application of\u202fa topical corticosteroid\u202fmixed with\u202fantibiotic\u202fointment can decrease the reaction while preventing secondary infection that\u202fmay\u202foccur after scratching.\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
\n

What are they?<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

Arthropods are\u202fa phylum that includes\u202farachnids and insects. Many arthropods such as mosquitoes, fleas, ticks and flies bite humans as a source of nutrition or as a part of their life cycle.\u202fArthropod bites themselves can also cause significant morbidity, particularly in children, where they can lead to exaggerated reactions with formation of blisters and intense itching. Scratched lesions may become secondarily infected leading to impetigo, abscesses, or cellulitis. It is often difficult to tell the source of the bite based on clinical morphology, but there are a few clues. Bed bug bites typically occur overnight on exposed skin and are clustered. Flea bites are commonly seen on lower extremities, but more widespread on toddlers who are closer to the ground. Mosquito bites are most prevalent on exposed skin, and chigger (larval mites) lesions are most prevalent on covered skin. In endemic areas, arthropods may\u202falso carry diseases such as malaria, zika, and dengue\u202fthat are transmitted by mosquitos, as well as\u202frickettsial\u202fillnesses\u202fincluding\u202fRocky Mountain spotted fever<\/strong>\u202f(caused by\u202fRickettsia\u202frickettsii) and\u202fLyme disease<\/strong>\u202f(caused by\u202fBorrelia burgdorferi)\u202fthat\u202fare transmitted by ticks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Image 12.8: Bullous arthropod bites demonstrating individual pruritic lesions with central blister and surrounding erythema<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

How can bites be managed?<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Prevention of bites is an important part of management. The approach is multifaceted and can include: use of repellants containing DEET (with concentration less than 10% for use in pediatrics), avoidance of areas where it is clear bites are occurring and treatment of pets for fleas and ticks. Thorough inspection of the household and\/or use of professional exterminators should be considered in\u202fcases where the bites are suspected to be occurring at home. In terms of the bites themselves, oral antihistamines can lessen the itching and application of\u202fa topical corticosteroid\u202fmixed with\u202fantibiotic\u202fointment can decrease the reaction while preventing secondary infection that\u202fmay\u202foccur after scratching.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1682,"menu_order":10,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1040","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1018,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1682"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1456,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1040\/revisions\/1456"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1018"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1040\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1040"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1040"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pedsdermprimer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}