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A French couple has reportedly developed a rare disease “almost forgotten” after a beetle that munched on their furniture caused an infestation of toxic mites. Case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Marseille doctors.
The man and woman, both 30 years old, visited an infectious disease clinic three days after developing an intensely itchy rash across their abdomen. Without the characteristic pattern of the woman’s rash, the cause might not have been easily identified. In the middle of the itchy pink patch on her torso was a dot with a pink trail that reminded me of a comet.
A comet-like rash is characteristic of a toxic tick bite Piemotes Ventricosus, also known as the European straw itch mite. In fact, it’s called a “comet sign.” It does not appear in all cases. For example, the man had no comet signs. However, if it appears, it is considered that the skin condition is getting worse. Piemotes dermatitis.
P. ventricosus It is an ectoparasite of a common furniture beetle. Anobium punctatum, are wood-eating beetles that devour wooden furniture and structures. Ticks have a very troublesome life cycle on their chosen host. When the female bites the beetle larvae, it injects a toxin that paralyzes the prey and then sucks in the food to become satiated. Feeding allows the female to nourish up to 300 eggs in her abdomen, where they develop fully. A few days after feeding, the female lays adult ticks, which quickly mate and disperse, finding new hosts and starting the process again.Males are invisible to the naked eye, and females are barely visible with a swollen belly.
When there are not enough beetles to feed on, mites accidentally bite mammals such as horses, cows and humans. Ticks cannot use these animals as hosts, but that doesn’t make them less terrifying when stung. In humans, a seemingly invisible tick bite painlessly develops into a very itchy welt or pink mark over about 24 hours. The cause of the comet sign is not completely clear, but it is believed to be due to inflammation of the lymphatic vessels around the bite.
‘Almost forgotten’
Mites of the family Pyemotidae can parasitize a variety of insects and are found on seeds, grains and straw as well as wood, but there are no reports of such. Piemotes Dermatitis has been occurring sporadically for over a century. Piemotes Ventricosus Although first reported in 1850, the first reported outbreak was only in 1850. reported in 1909 Some of the private yacht crew members slept on bug-infested straw mattresses.
Since then, there have been only about 20 outbreaks, according to the report. Reviews published last yearwhich also includes approximately 40 individual case reports.
After an outbreak in 2006 that infected 42 people, many of whom stayed in summer cottages in southeastern France, French investigators had so much trouble figuring out the cause of the skin disease that one of the investigators A person has taken a very drastic action.he voluntarily chose a place P. ventricosus– Infested wood dust was applied to bandages and taped to abdomen for 4 hours. He also had two of his controls, a plain bandage and a bandage wrapped in uninfected wood dust. Not surprisingly, after 24 hours, the researchers developed severe bites on the dust-bandaged sites of the mite-infested tree, but no bites occurred on the control bandaged sites. did not. Mystery solved.
another fad In 2017, an outbreak occurred in Poland among employees of an herbal medicine company. The main explanation for the spread of infection was that the company switched the timing of handling certain herbs (helichrysum arenarium). Prior to 2017, this herb was only processed during the winter, but that year it was processed during the summer, when mites are most active. “This has allowed a largely forgotten disease to reappear,” the authors of the outbreak report wrote, adding, “The importance of testing environmental specimens for ectoparasites in cases of skin disease of unknown origin.” emphasizes “gender”. In fact, almost all cases and outbreaks reported in the scientific literature occurred between May and November.
Fortunately, tick bites, no matter how severely itchy, are rare and not considered infectious. Skin symptoms usually resolve on their own, but can be accompanied by fever, chills, vomiting, and headache, depending on the severity of the tick attack.
This couple was treated with topical glucocorticoids and antihistamines after the infested furniture was disposed of. Their itchy lesions disappeared after 8 days.
