Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

52894 What Bit Me? Skin Manifestations of Arthropod Bites

2024; Elsevier BV; Volume: 91; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jaad.2024.07.1433

1097-6787

Sowmya Ravi, Katarina Stephanos, John C. Carlson,

Rabies epidemiology and control

Arthropods injure skin through a variety of mechanisms, including urticating spines, sting apparatuses, and mouthparts that may be chewing or piercing. These injuries cost an estimated $5.7 billion in healthcare expenditures annually in the United States. Even when specimens are available, most arthropods are not definitively identified due to a lack of expertise by physicians. BugGuide.net is a website where the public can submit photographs of arthropods from North America for expert identification. This database was searched April 2023 for terms "bitten" and "stung." Posts were reviewed for the nature of any bite or sting and arthropod identification. 258 posts were identified. Of 114 posts referencing bites, 39 posts included verified bites. Ten were of blood-feeding insects. Others were 9 true bugs, 6 spiders, 6 lacewings, and 8 others. 26 "bitten" posts and one "stung" post included a description of a wound that came without an obvious trigger, and the poster suspected an arthropod: 10 spiders, 3 beetles, 3 flies, and 8 others. Of 144 posts with "stung," 110 posts included specimens associated with a sting: 44 social Hymenoptera, 33 solitary Hymenoptera, 5 Heteroptera, 20 caterpillars, 4 scorpions and 4 others. Among patients turning to an online platform for arthropod identification, bites from lacewing larvae, true bugs, solitary Hymenoptera and caterpillars were unexpectedly common. Misattribution of arthropod bites as the cause of skin lesions was common. Understanding the reasons that species injure humans is helpful in reassuring patients. The skin manifestations of these bites and stings varied significantly amongst species.