PUNKIN IRROTUS

[Bb]

Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 10.8.2004 15:48

Punkin "rusentaminen" iholle sen jälkeen kun se on jo purrut, lisää borrelioosiin sairastumisen riskiä - paras siis ottaa punkki pois iholta esim pihdeillä. Seuraavassa kerrotaan myös tapaus jossa nainen kuoli läimäytettyään hyttysen iholleen. Hyttysestä siirtyi naiseen sieni, joka elelee hyttysen ruumissa, ei syljessä.


Mosquito debate: Smash or swat?

By SARAH LARSON
Bucks County Courier Times

With mosquito season revving into high gear, should you smash the pesky bugs or swat them away?

Don't laugh.

After the freak death of a Pennsylvania woman, it's not an altogether crazy question.

The New England Journal of Medicine recently reported the case of a 57-year-old woman who died in 2002 after contracting a fungal infection in her muscles called Brachiola algerae. Doctors were puzzled, because the fungus commonly is found in the bodies of mosquitoes and other insects but not in mosquito saliva. So, the reasoning goes, the fungus could not have been transmitted through a simple bite.

The doctors concluded that the woman must have smashed the mosquito on her skin as it was biting her, smearing its body parts into the open bite wound.

"I think if a mosquito was in mid-bite, it would be wiser to flick the mosquito off rather than squashing it," said one of the article's authors, Christina Coyle of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

Similar precautions already are advised for dealing with other bloodsuckers such as ticks. Doctors have long cautioned that squashing a tick that has already bitten into flesh could increase the risk of contracting the tick-borne Lyme disease, said Dawn Wesson, a tropical medicine specialist at Tulane University.

The strange, rare case of the Pennsylvania woman, though, is not changing the advice Pennsylvania health officials give about mosquitoes.

"We don't really have any new recommendations on how to kill mosquitoes," Jessica Seiders said Thursday.

Instead, said Seiders, a spokeswoman for the state health department, health officials recommend doing your best to avoid mosquitoes altogether.

And what's the best way to do that?

"Stay indoors," said Phil Smith, laughing. Smith runs Bucks County's West Nile virus suppression program, which focuses on eliminating the mosquitoes that spread the encephalitic disease to people.

Three full-time technicians and two interns fan out across the county, spreading larvacide in their wake to kill mosquito larvae before they mature into the winged bloodsuckers. A new all-terrain vehicle that has been modified to spray the larvacide has made their work easier, Smith said.

A similar program in Montgomery County - and in most counties across the state - aims for the same goal.

That is good news for residents, for the fewer mosquitoes looking for a meal, the fewer there are to dodge.

Still, Smith and other health experts advise people to avoid being outside at dawn or dusk, when mosquitoes are most active, and to wear an insect repellant with at least 25 percent DEET. Those who are uneasy about the chemical can spray it on clothing, Smith said; long-sleeved shirts and long pants obviously provide the most protection.

Bottom line: Doctors find the woman's bizarre case interesting but not alarming enough to issue a blanket recommendation against squashing mid-bite.

"It would be a stretch to say we couldn't smack a mosquito based on this one case," said Dr. Keith Sweigard, an internist at Abington Memorial Hospital. "We're looking for more solid information before we conclude anything like that. Wearing long clothing and getting rid of standing water to prevent mosquito bites in the first place is a bigger priority."

Sarah Larson can be reached at (215) 957-8167 or slarson@phillyBurbs.com.
August 6, 2004 7:34 AM

Mosquito debate: Smash or swat?
By: SARAH LARSON (08/06/2004)
The death of a Pennsylvania woman from a mosquito-borne disease has not changed health experts' advice on the bloodsuckers.....
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