An outbreak of paederus dermatitis in a suburban hospital in Sri Lanka

Background In a modern hospital built recently in Sri Lanka the staff members on night shifts and some patients in the open wards were known to be affected by an acute vesicating dermatitis. The study was carried out to identify the cause of the dermatitis and recommend preventive measures. Methods...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal of dermatology Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 34 - 36
Main Authors:	Kamaladasa, Satheeka D., Perera, W.D.H., Weeratunge, L.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-01-1997 Blackwell Science
Subjects:	Animals Biological and medical sciences Coleoptera Dermatitis - epidemiology Dermatitis - etiology Dermatitis - prevention & control Dermatology Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control Female Humans Insect Bites and Stings - complications Male Medical sciences Personnel, Hospital Skin involvement in other diseases. Miscellaneous. General aspects Sri Lanka - epidemiology Tropical medicine Asia Sri Lanka Infectious focus Human Biological fluid Skin disease Contact dermatitis Staphylinidae Coleoptera Arthropoda Insecta Animal origin Irritant compound Invertebrata
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Summary:	Background In a modern hospital built recently in Sri Lanka the staff members on night shifts and some patients in the open wards were known to be affected by an acute vesicating dermatitis. The study was carried out to identify the cause of the dermatitis and recommend preventive measures. Methods Members of the hospital staff and patients who developed an acute vesicating dermatitis over a period of 2 years were studied using a questionnaire. The clinical features, relationship to night shifts and the month of occurrence were noted. Insects were caught at night on several occasions and identified. Lesions were reproduced in volunteers. Results Out of a total of 124 patients studied, 108 were members of the hospital staff and it was noted that they had all been on night shifts within 2 days prior to the onset of the lesions. The insect caught belongs to class Coleoptera, family Staphylinidae, genus Paederus, and species fuscipes. The incidence was seasonal with clustering of cases seen to occur twice a year. Conclusions This IS an outbreak of dermatltls due to Paederus fusicipes. Awareness of the condition and its clinical features will prevent misdiagnosis and the simple preventive measures suggested are based on the behavioral pattern of this nocturnal beetle.
Bibliography:	istex:A4A875BAFCAB71679BD99C68D677FC0A5589E5B9 ark:/67375/WNG-MQ2JSDZJ-Q ArticleID:IJD34 The Director of the Sri Jayawardanapura General Hospital, Kotte, Sri Lanka, permitted us to carry out this study. Dr A. Saparamadu, Consultant Pathologist, General Hospital, Ragama, and Mr R. Subasinghe, Senior Lecturer, Department of Zoology, University of Colombo, contributed to this study.
ISSN:	0011-9059 1365-4632
DOI:	10.1046/j.1365-4362.1997.00009.x