English

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Paederus dermatitis is an acute irritant contact dermatitis caused by accidental crushing of an insect belonging to the genus Paederus. We came across an epidemic cluster of paederus dermatitits cases in our campus which prompted us to undertake this study to know its clinical manifestations, epidemiology and the most effective topical therapy. METHODS: The study included all clinically diagnosed cases of paederus dermatitis who were subjected to a thorough history and dermatological examination. Comparative assessment of efficacy of three commonly advised topical treatments was done by dividing patients into 3 age and sex matched groups: Group A (topical steroid), Group B (topical antibiotic) and Group C (topical steroid and antibiotic combination). All patients were followed up after 7 days, 15 days and 1month. Polythene bags were used to collect insect specimens and species identification was done. RESULTS: Students residing in various hostels accounted for 251 cases (60.19%) whereas inhabitants of villages accounted for 101 cases (24.22%). Majority of the cases occurred during the summer months of April (90 cases), May (131 cases) and June (72 cases). Moist surroundings, dense vegetations and paddy or sugarcane fields were noticed close to the residences of affected patients. Head and neck were the most commonly affected site (38.60%) followed by the upper extremity (24.40%).Group C patients who used a combination of topical steroid and antibiotic healed fastest with a mean duration of 8.4 days whereas Group A patients and Group B patients had a mean healing time of 12.9 days and 14.7 days respectively. Paederus extraneus and Paederus melampus were identified as the commonest species in this locality. CONCLUSION: We observed that topical steroid and antibiotic combination is more effective than topical steroid and topical antibiotic alone. Prevention of human-insect contact acts as a hindrance for the development of Paederus dermatitis which can be achieved by increased public awareness.