Blister beetle dermatitis explained

Specialty:	dermatology

Blister beetle dermatitis is a cutaneous condition that occurs after contact with any of several types of beetles, including those from the Meloidae and Oedemeridae families.^[1] Blister beetles secrete an irritant called cantharidin, a vesicant that can get onto humans if they touch the beetles.

The term "blister beetle dermatitis" is also occasionally and inappropriately used as a synonym for Paederus dermatitis, a somewhat different dermatitis caused by contact with pederin, an irritant in the hemolymph of a different group of beetles, the rove beetles.^[2]

Symptoms and signs

After skin comes in contact with cantharidin, local irritation begins within a few hours.^[3] (This is in contrast to Paederus dermatitis, where symptoms first appear 12–36 hours after contact with rove beetles.)^[4] Painful blisters appear, but scarring from these epidermal lesions is rare.^[5]

See also

• List of cutaneous conditions
• Skin lesion

External links

• Research paper describing both blister beetle dermatitis and Paederus dermatitis, with photos of both

Notes and References

1. Book: James, William D. . Berger, Timothy G. . Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: clinical Dermatology . Saunders Elsevier . 2006 . 978-0-7216-2921-6 . etal.
2. http://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?dv07004
3. Web site: 7.7 Blister beetles, clinical features . Institute of Tropical Medicine . 11 August 2011 . On skin contact with cantharidin-containing blister beetles, local tissue irritation occurs after a few hours. This results from the disruption of tonofilaments in the desmosomes with acantholysis and intra-epidermal blister formation. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110823115228/http://www.itg.be/itg/DistanceLearning/LectureNotesVandenEndenE/52_Ectoparasitesp7.htm . 23 August 2011 .
4. Web site: Just the facts…Paederus Beetles. US Army Public Health Command. 30 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120316101540/http://phc.amedd.army.mil/PHC%20Resource%20Library/PaederusBeetleJan2010.pdf. 16 March 2012. dead.
5. Book: Barceloux, Donald. Medical toxicology of natural substances: foods, fungi, medicinal herbs, plants, and venomous animals. 2008. John Wiley and Sons. 973. 9780470335574.