Have you ever been bothered by this kind of worm that "everyone shouts and beats" but can't? —Popular science

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Cryptoptera (Figure 1) is a species of beetle, and cryptoptera dermatitis is skin inflammation caused by contact with the skin with the venom of the cryptoptera, which is more common in tropical and subtropical regions and is high in
summer and autumn.
Especially people in the southern region are often plagued by this worm, it is easy to get venom after accidentally patting it, today I will share with you how to prevent cryptopterus dermatitis and how to deal with
this worm.

Figure 1 Cryptoptera is reddish-brown ant-like

Clinical manifestations

Cryptopterus dermatitis often occurs in exposed areas of the skin, most commonly on the face, neck, trunk, and extremities
.
Patients feel itching, pain and burning sensation on the skin, the skin lesions are mostly cord-like or flaky edematous erythema, the boundary between the skin lesions and normal skin is clear, and further blisters and pustules may appear in the skin lesions, or gray-black necrosis
may develop.
In severe cases, there will be a series of systemic symptoms
such as fever, headache, dizziness, vomiting, and swollen lymph nodes.

Actions

If the cryptoptera falls on the skin, do not directly pat or crush the body with your hands to avoid contact with the infected venom, and should blow it off or shake it off
.
If you are unfortunate enough to come into contact with venom, wash the skin immediately with soapy water or water, and do not stain the rest of the skin with the cleaning solution, resulting in indirect contact
.
Wet compresses can be applied to exposed areas to dilute toxin concentrations
.
If symptoms are severe, seek medical attention
.

Precautions

(1) Do a good job of environmental hygiene, keep dry, eliminate weeds, garbage, and eliminate the breeding grounds of cryptoptera;

(2) Go out for a walk at night to avoid going to the humid grass park, and pay attention to appropriately reducing the exposure of the skin and reducing the chance of Cryptoptera directly touching the skin;

(3) It is recommended to install screens or use mosquito nets, and turn off indoor lights during sleep to prevent cryptoptera insects from being attracted by the lights into the home;

(4) Spray insecticides in places where cryptoptera are suspected to be hidden for key
killing.

References

1.
Brooke A.
Beaulieu, Seth R.
Irish, Literature review of the causes, treatment, and prevention of dermatitis linearis, Journal of Travel Medicine, Volume 23, Issue 4, July 2016, taw032.

2.
QIN Shanyan,WU Chunyan.
Treatment and nursing experience of Cryptoptera dermatitis in 112 college students[J].
World Latest Medical Information Digest, 2018(62).

3.
LUO Zhuofu,LUO Mao,XU Wei.
Clinical analysis of 529 cases of cryptoptera dermatitis[J].
Journal of Southwest Medical University,2019,42(4):359-362.

4.
Dingdian.
Don't shoot this poisonous insect, it's best to blow it away gently[J].
Jiangsu Health Care, 2019(8):22.