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| Prevention
of Paederus dermatit： |
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What is Paederus? |
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Paederus is a small beetle, and the beetle
is long (0.5-1 cm) and skinny (0.1-0.2 cm), and typically
has a very distinctive red and black colour pattern. Due
to its wings are not obvious, so it is called Paederus
. Paederus mostly gather in the grass or forest, and they
mainly act in summer. They can move fast and also can
fly, and especially they act the most under rainy and
muggy |
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weather. Also, paederus are
attracted to light, so they will fly to the light at night,
and they can easily pass through the screen of the house
doors or windows. |
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The
Danger of Paederus to Humans. |
| Paederus’s body has one kind of toxins
called “Pederin”. The pederin can irritate human skin.
Exposure to “Pederin” can cause mild skin problems (redness
for about 2 days), moderate (substantial redness and blistering
over 2 days followed by peeling over 8 days and pigmented
scars that can last for a month or more) or severe (more
extensive and redness can last for months), and those
are the symptoms of Paederus dermatit. People who live
in the forests or outskirts will have more chances to
get Paederus dermatit. However, people who live in urban
cities will also have the chances to get Paederus dermatit
due to there are many trees planted in the city. People
who got Paederus dermatit are not because they were bitten
by the paederus, the reason is they swatted or crushed
the paederus against their skin, and then the “Pederin”
leaked and irritated human skin, and the situation will
become worse if they spread pederin to other areas of
their bodies.
Paederus dermatit is similar to Acute Contact dermatitis,
because in the beginning the patient will have the edema
erythema, and also feel hot and irritating. About one
day after, the skin will have symptom of ichors and
fester. Therefore the victim must clean the skin with
water gently and get medical attention immediately. |
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The ways
to prevent the Paederus dermatit: |
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Avoid doing activities in the filed
or grasslands if possible, and wear protective clothing
or use pest repellent. |
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Keep doors closed, and screening on doors and
windows in good repair to reduce entry of beetles
into buildings. Sleeping under a bed net may also
reduce the probability that a beetle will fall on
you during the night. |
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If a beetle lands on you, try to gently remove
it (e.g., blow it off, try to get the beetle to
walk onto a piece of paper and then remove it, etc),
and wash skin areas that contacted the beetle. |
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