Bug bite

“ In certain cases there develops from one such single bite an urticaria that extends over a large part of the body. The manner by which an irritating substance is introduced into the skin upon biting by the bed bug and also by the flea is clear. The bite is followed by a feeling of itching, which is liable to rob nervous persons of their sleep. Sensitive individuals are upset even by the fleas moving over the surface of the skin during their rest at night.
Treatment consists in extreme cleanliness, capture of the parasites, sprinkling the body and bed-linen with insect powders. ”

“ It is not the human blood neither that makes them smell, because a young bug who has never touched a drop will smell. They breathe, I believe, through their sides; but I can’t answer for that, though it’s not through the head. They haven’t got a mouth, but they insert into the skin the point of a tube, which is quite as fine as a hair, through which they draw up the blood. I have many a time put a bug on the back of my hand, to see how they bite ”

“ House crickets and cockroaches are plentiful, as well as lizards, and frightful spiders weave their webs. One does not count ticks, flies of sorts, bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, and small ants, and the fatal bug of Miana, which vary in size, after suction, from almost invisible dimensions to three-quarters of an inch. The bite does not poison, but the irritation causes sad consequences. ”

“ It is natural to suppose that an insect which throughout its whole life is in such intimate relationship with man should play an important rôle in the transmission of disease. Yet comparatively little is definitely known regarding the importance of the bed-bug in this respect. It has been shown that it is capable of transmitting the bubonic plague, and South American trypanosomiasis. Nuttall succeeded in transmitting European relapsing fever from mouse to mouse by its bite. ”

“ These would require, first, the presence of great numbers of microparasites on the skin or in the blood of a man or animal sick with some disease transmissible to man by subcutaneous inoculation; second, it would probably be necessary that there should be many bugs biting in order that one or more of them should bite some healthy person within a rather short space of time after these insects had fed on the infected individual. ”

“ None of those who have been bitten saw the insect whose sting proves so disastrous. One old negro went to sleep and woke up to find both his eyes nearly closed by the swelling from his nose and cheeks, where the insect had alighted. The lips seems to be the favorite point of attack.
William Smith, a newspaper agent, of 327 Trumbull street, went to the Emergency last night with his upper lip swollen to many times its natural size. The symptoms are in every case the same, and there is indication of poisoning from an insect's bite. ”

“ For more than a century these little flies have been recognized as among the most serious pests of stock, particularly in the south where, besides the actual loss by death of many animals yearly, the annoyance is so great as to sometimes make it impossible to work in the field. Human beings are often attacked, and as the bite is poisonous and very painful great suffering may result and cases of deaths from such bites have been reported. ”

“ The effect of the bite varies greatly with different species and depends upon the susceptibility of the individual bitten. Some persons are driven almost frantic by the attacks of the pests when their companions seem almost unconscious of any inconvenience. Usually, irritation and some degree of inflammation appear shortly following the bite. Not infrequently a hardened wheal or even a nodule forms, and sometimes scratching leads to secondary infection and serious results.
The source of the poison is usually supposed to be the salivary glands of the insect. ”

“ The general symptoms, observed in a few cases, where violent, may probably be ascribed to shock and nervousness. But the marked swelling and pain cannot be thus dismissed. Medical men believe that the insect, in its various prowlings for food, thrusts its exploring beak into decaying animal and vegetable matter and thus, in a sense, so poisons it that when it comes into contact with human blood, a rapid local infection is set up—not through any specific poison, as in spider bite or bee sting, but by the agency of the putrefactive germs collected on the weapon. ”

“ No one needs to be told to try to keep a house, or a room, clear of fleas, bed-bugs, or lice; indeed to have these creatures about is considered a mortal disgrace. Not only is their bite very unpleasant, but they may convey a variety of diseases, including plague and blood poisonings of various sorts. But there is another insect pest far commoner and far more dangerous than either fleas or bed-bugs, whose presence we should feel equally ashamed of ”

“ The insect, therefore, is attracted to light or is becoming attracted to light, is a night-flier, and enters houses through open windows. Among the several cases coming under the writer's observation of bites by this insect, one has been reported by the well-known entomologist Mr. Charles Dury, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in which this species (M. picipes) bit a man on the back of the hand, making a bad sore. In another case, where the insect was brought for our determination and proved to be this species, the bite was upon the cheek, and the swelling was said to be great, but with little pain. ”

“ The effect of their bite varies in different people. As a rule, the actual bite lasts for two or three minutes before the insect is gorged, and at first it is painless. But very soon the bitten area begins to swell and to become red, and at times a regular eruption ensues. The irritation may be allayed by washing with menthol or ammonia. Some people seem immune to the irritation ”

“ In some instances little or no irritation is felt until some hours, sometimes as much as a day, after the bite. In such cases the effect of the bite is apt to be severe and to last for several days. Sometimes a more or less serious sore will follow a bite, probably due to infection of the wound by scratching. It is doubtless the saliva that is poured into the wound that causes the irritation. It is frequently asserted that if the mosquito is allowed to drink its fill and withdraw its beak without being disturbed no evil results will follow. ”

“ In the case of linen and other fabrics soiled by crushing infected fleas and bugs on them, or by the fæces of these insects the plague microbes can under favorable conditions remain alive and virulent during more than five months.
[Pg 150] " (16) Chemical disinfectants do not in the ordinary course of application kill plague microbes in infected fleas and bugs.
" (17) The rat flea Typhlopsylla musculi does not bite human beings.
" (18) Human fleas do bite rats.
" (19) Fleas found on dogs and cats bite both human beings and rats. ”

“ All three of these pests are found abundantly in the woods, and without being prepared for them, instead of [299] pleasure, the sportsman’s trip would be one long torture. People have been known to be completely disfigured by their bites, and I have had my neck as thoroughly girdled as though it had been done with a hot iron. Their bite inflames the blood, and if accompanied with the free use of ardent spirits, may produce unpleasant consequences. ”

“ Their strong, sharp, piercing stylets enable them to pierce through the toughest skin of animals and through the thin clothing of man. The bite is very severe and irritating, and as the flies sometimes occur in great numbers the annoyance that they cause is often very great indeed. It has often been claimed that these flies as well as the stable-fly and others carry the anthrax bacillus on their proboscis from one animal to another, and although this may not have been definitely proven the evidence is strong enough to make a very good case against the accused. ”

“ Take the mosquito pest, for instance: One who begins to feel irritation at the sound made by the wings of the insect, is already creating within himself a condition favorable to inflammation from the effects of the bite. ”

“ Some Illustrations of Direct Inoculation of Disease Germs by Arthropods
In discussing poisonous arthropods, we have already emphasized that species which are of themselves innocuous to man, may occasionally introduce bacteria by their bite or sting and thus cause more or less severe secondary symptoms. That such cases should occur, is no more than is to be expected. The mouth-parts or the sting of the insect are not sterile and the chances of their carrying pyogenic organisms are always present. ”

“ Wounds inflicted by large spiders, centipedes, tarantulae, and scorpions have proved fatal. Even in our country deaths, preceded by gangrene, have sometimes followed the bite of a mosquito or a bee, the location of the bite and the idiosyncrasy of the individual probably influencing the fatal issue. In some cases, possibly, some vegetable poison is introduced with the sting. Hulse, U.S.N., reports the case of a man who was bitten on the penis by a spider, and who subsequently exhibited violent symptoms simulating spinal meningitis, but ultimately recovered. ”

“ Fleas or other suctorial insects feeding on such rats take myriads of these bacilli into their stomach and get many on their proboscis.
The fleas usually leave a rat as soon as it dies and of course seek some other source of food. When such infected fleas are permitted to bite other rats or guinea-pigs these animals often develop the disease. Several of the species of fleas that infest rats will bite man also, and in the cases of many plague patients it can be definitely shown that they had recently been bitten by fleas. ”

“ The bite is not felt until the insect has had time to bury the whole of his head, and in the case of the most minute and most troublesome species, nearly his whole body, under the skin, where he fastens himself with such tenacity, that he will sooner suffer his head and body to be dragged apart than relinquish his hold. ”

“ These facts explain certain peculiarities in malarial infection; thus, infection occurs practically only at night; it is most common near stagnant water, especially upon the side toward which the prevailing winds blow; and the [p. 191] danger is greater when persons sleep upon or near the ground than in upper stories of buildings. The insects frequently hibernate in warmed houses, and may bite during the winter. A mosquito becomes dangerous in eight to fourteen days after it bites a malarious person, and remains so throughout its life. ”

“ Some of our men, for example, may be said to have died of the bite of a mosquito, for the bite of that little insect occasioned a grievous itch, and the part being constantly scratched, soon festered and mortified, so that it was necessary to cut off the leg, after which the poor men fevered and died. ”

“ These little flies, which sally forth upon the blood quest towards evening, are voracious blood-suckers, and feed principally in the gloaming and at dawn. They chiefly attack the wrists and ankles, and can easily bite through thin socks or light cotton or linen clothing. It has been proved that the bite of one infected fly can convey fever. During the day they hide in dark places, and may be found in the dark corners of rooms. ”

“ When they find all quiet, not even a light in the room will prevent their biting; but they are seldom or never found under the bedclothes. They like a clear ground to get off, and generally bite round the edges of the nightcap or the nightdress. When they are found in the bed, it’s because the parties have been tossing about, and have curled the sheets round the bugs. ”

“ There are reasons why everyone who is bitten does not contract the disease.
The location and character of the bite must be considered. Bites on the head, neck and hands have been recognized as more dangerous, from early times, and such bites produce fatal results quicker than do bites on other parts of the body, and the reason is largely due to the fact that the other parts of the body are more or less protected by the clothing, and this clothing prevents the entrance of so much poison into the system. Bites on the head give a high mortality rate and are rapidly fatal. ”

“ The bite of the bedbug is decidedly poisonous to some individuals, resulting in a slight swelling and disagreeable inflammation. To such persons the presence of bedbugs is sufficient to cause the greatest uneasiness, if not to put sleep and rest entirely out of the question. With others, however, who are less sensitive, the presence of the bugs may not be recognized at all, and, except for the occasional staining of the linen by a crushed individual, their presence might be entirely overlooked. ”

“ Always suck bites, as of spiders, unless there are abrasions of tongue and lips. After sucking bathe freely with fresh peroxide of hydrogen, boracic acid, or sugar-of-lead water. A leaf of green plantain, well bruised, bound on a bite or sting when nothing else is at hand keeps down inflammation and mitigates pain. ”

“ This little insect is apparently always hungry, is never tired, and wages a relentless fight upon every inch of the white man's epidermis that is exposed to its reach, even penetrating the hair and beard of a man, and leaving the effects of its poisonous bite. ”

“ In Europe this species haunts houses for the purpose of preying upon bedbugs. Riley, in his well-known article on Poisonous Insects, published in Wood's Reference Handbook of Medical Science, states that if a fly or another insect is offered to the cannibal bug it is first touched with the antennæ, a sudden spring follows, and at the same time the beak is thrust into the prey. ”