Cockroach Bites
Martha woke up yesterday with her left eye swollen.
I immediately knew the culprit – the pesky cockroach! I was so MAD!! It didnt hurt since she was not really minding it. So I put hot compress on it. My only problem is how to keep her from scratching it when it itches. I dont want it infected.
It might be because of the milk. I was so sleepy the other night that I didnt get to close her bottle properly. It might lured the cockroach to get into bed. Our bed is on a platform. We got rid of the “feet” ever since we had Martha. Think zen beds. That’s how our bed looks like.
So after I get to have Martha’s eye treated, Im going to whisk her off to Amadeo and Im going to spray the whole house with insecticide!!!
Relatively harmless insects
Cockroaches have been reported to bite humans, but their bite generally is harmless. Continued repeated exposure to their remains and feces poses a greater health threat, such as increased incidence of asthma, especially in inner cities, and their remains and feces are possible vectors for transmission of viral and bacterial diseases.
Earwigs generally are harmless insects that have earned an unpleasant reputation. This may be because of their depiction in popular culture, such as in the television series, “The Night Gallery.” Although they appear to have a large pincer on the posterior abdomen, it is not capable of rendering anything more serious than a mild pinch. Additionally, and contrary to popular belief, they do not routinely enter human ear canals and parasitize humans. Cockroaches are much more likely to be found lodged in a patient’s auditory passage.
Pathophysiology: Mouthparts of biting insects can be classified into 3 broad groups: piercing and/or sucking, sponging, and biting and/or chewing. Tremendous diversity exists in the morphology of these groups. Insects discussed in this article generally are nonvenomous, yet many species inject saliva while biting. Their saliva may aid in digestion, inhibit coagulation, increase blood flow to the bite, or anesthetize the bite locus. Most lesions are the result of the victim’s immune response to these insect secretions. In the case of Chagas disease, the infective organism is transmitted via the feces of a reduviid bug, which enters through the bite site when the wound becomes pruritic and is scratched.
Other than horsefly bites, most insect bites are minor puncture wounds to the skin. Horseflies feed with a large scissorlike proboscis that can cause a relatively deep and painful wound.
Anaphylactic reactions may occur among atopic individuals bitten by an insect or other arthropod to which they have developed an allergy. Allergy also may develop in response to exposure to arthropod body parts or waste products. Refer to Anaphylaxis for treatment of this response.
