Other Bites & Stings

Diatomaceous earth is an all-natural, 100% organic product made from the microscopic remains of tiny fossilized, hard-shelled, algae-like water plants. These tiny water plants have been an...

Bubble CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) is a procedure that doctors use to help promote breathing in premature newborns. The key to the procedure is the bubbles, which are created in a...

If you walk barefoot through your yard, you will know instantly if you come into contact with a stinging nettle plant. Stinging nettles have small, hair-like stingers on their leaves, and when...

According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Ascaris lumbricoides alone accounts for 1.4 billion roundworm infections throughout the world. Understanding how roundworms...

Scrapes---a spot where your skin has been damaged or rubbed off---come from all types of injuries. Scrapes usually bleed a small amount when you first receive them and then heal slowly as new skin...

Scabies and chigger bites are both painful conditions caused by microscopic mites. Scabies is an itchy skin condition resulting from contact with eight-legged mites and is usually spread quickly...

Scorpion sting symptoms are very similar to different types of spider bites and wasp stings. There is 1 type of scorpion, however, that is extremely dangerous, and sometimes deadly to humans. For...

While frolicking in the waters off of the coast of California, many people think of sharks as their biggest worry. Though sharks do take large bites out of people from time to time, the majority...

Human bite wounds that puncture the skin can lead to serious infections, scarring and damage to tendons and joints. Bite wounds occur during physical altercations where an individual cuts their...

Scabies is a skin condition caused by small mites known as Sarcoptes scabies. Body lice are small, wingless, gray insects that live on human hair and skin. Both cause acute itching, redness and...

Scorpions, which are an order of arachnids, use venom to incapacitate prey and ward off potential predators. Perhaps 20 of the more than 1,050 species worldwide possess toxins of sufficient...

Lice infestations can temporarily take over your house. Although lice live on people, they can jump from a person into various places in your home such as a pillow or your carpet. Although lice...

If you're reading this, it's probably because you just Googled "what to do zombies," or something similar because they're already at your door. Well, you shouldn't have waited this long...

Poison oak is a shrub-shaped plant common in the United States. The plant contains an oil based chemical called urushiol, which will result in redness, welts, swelling, burning and itching when in...

Once thought to have been eradicated 50 years ago, bedbugs are making a comeback. These tiny insects feed on the blood of humans and animals. Bedbugs were all but wiped out by the pesticide DDT....

Catfish are large, bottom-dwelling fish that can be found all over the world in freshwater or marine habitats. Catfish are known for their trademark large mouths and whiskers. In addition to these...

A yellow jacket sting falls into the category of insect bites referred to as hymenoptera, which includes stings or bites from bees, ants, hornets and wasps (yellow jackets). The hymenoptera sting...

Sea lice is a term commonly used to describe Swimmer's itch (also known as sea bather's eruption or Cercarial Dermatitis). Actual sea lice are parasite bugs that affect fish and sea lice describes...

Lindane is used to cure lice and scabies. Also known as Benzene hexachloride or Gamma hexachlorocyclohexane, Lindane is only prescribed if you have tried other medications and they have not...

Mites can be a pain, literally. Mites feed off their hosts, typically rats or birds, biting them and sucking their blood. Biting mites can cause irritation and discomfort for both pet and humans...

Scabies is a skin infection caused by the scabies mite, technically Sarcoptes scabiei, burrowing in the skin. A scabies infection is highly infectious even before any symptoms of the scabies rash...

Pinworms are the most common roundworm infection. Pinworms are highly infectious, and they can live off a host for up to two weeks. Pinworms generally infect humans, then begin their life cycle...

Hookworm is a generic name for a small group of parasites that latch onto the intestines of their victims through hook-like appendages near their mouths. Millions of people worldwide become...

Oak spider mites, or Oligonychus bicolor, are tiny reddish-brown mites that primarily causes major leaf bronzing in the bottom leaves of oak trees. They lay their eggs, which look like red...

Tapeworms rarely cause symptoms within their human or animal hosts. Most of the time, those who are host to a tapeworm don't even know they are infected, unless the parasite grows too large. At...

The life expectancy of body lice is an average of 30-40 days. Body lice typically attach themselves to clothes or human hair and then transfer to the human body to feed. Body lice are slightly...

Scabies is a skin condition that can be treated by prescribed oral medications, lotions and creams. This rash consists of intense itching and painful blisters.

Itchy bites, often a result of an attack by a mosquito, can be among the most unpleasant and lingering forms of itchy skin. It happens because these blood-feeding insects inject an anti-coagulant...

Chiggers are a tiny red mite (sometimes called red bugs) that leave very itchy bites---commonly on the ankles, although bites show up elsewhere, too. Contrary to popular belief, chiggers do not...

Scorpions are members of the arachnid family and are closely related to spiders. Like their better- known cousins, they use their venom to kill or paralyze their prey. It is costly, in terms of...

Chigger bites are the bane of outdoor campers and backyard barbecue afficionados. This wee pest--less than 1/150th of an inch in diameter--is the larval form of the Trombiculidae mite. Contrary to...

If you were stung by a Scorpion or a Wasp, one of the easiest ways to get rid of the sting is by following the steps in this article.

Trypanosoma brucei, or T. Brucei is a species of parasite that lives within a mammal's bloodstream and is known to cause several neurologic conditions, most notably, African sleeping sickness. ...

The stem and leaves of the stinging nettle plant possess tiny defensive quills. When touched, these quills inject toxins into the skin. While uncomfortable, the side effects are generally mild.

Sea urchins live on the bottoms of shallow oceans all over the world. Some urchins are flat and others are round, but all are covered with long spikes that they can imbed into the skin of other...

Sea urchins are beautiful creatures that live on the sea floor under shallow ocean waters. Although fun to look at, humans should never touch or move sea urchins. Unfortunately, it is possible for...

Head lice are very small insects that live on the scalp, which is also where they lay their eggs. They survive longer when on the scalp, but how long can head lice live without body contact?

Harvest mites, most commonly known as "chiggers", have a bite that itches more than any other common insect bite. Worse still, the bites are harder to treat than others, and can last for...

A mite that can lay twenty-five eggs on a single human hair follicle, live from fourteen to eighteen days, and is prevalent among humans may sound like an epidemic. However, because mites do not...

Ancient Hawaiians made use of all the plants in their homeland. Some were used as food, some as medicine, some for building, cordage and fiber. The plants they used for medicine are called the...

Lice begin their lives as nits. These are the eggs laid by the female louse in a host's hair. In her lifetime, which is about a month long, the average female will produce more than 100 nits. It's...

How to avoid Tapeworms. Whether it be you or your dog, tapeworms can be a problem. Here is how to avoid them at all costs.

Skin mites are a group of microscopic organisms that burrow into a mammal's skin. For humans, most skin mites are not a problem. A few, however, are easily transmitted and spread. In most cases,...

Scorpion stings are a major health concern in underdeveloped countries. In Mexico, scorpion stings account for about a thousand deaths per year, whereas in the United States only a handful or...

Mites are tiny creatures (less than a millimeter long) that look somewhat like insects. However, they occupy the Arachnida class of the Arthropod phylum along with spiders and ticks. Most mite...

Onchocerciasis disease is more commonly known as river blindness. Onchocerciasis is the result of an infection by Onchocerca volvulus, which is a parasitic worm. The parasite is introduced into...

Herpes B is a virus that is common among primates. The disease manifests itself as lesions on the skin. Herpes B is generally not considered a human disease, but, in rare cases, humans have been...

Some insect bites are merely annoying while others may be uncomfortable or even dangerous. Usually the reaction is only in the area of the puncture and may cause itching, slight swelling or minor...

There aren't many things yuckier than being eaten alive by a mite. Scabies symptoms can range from an itchy rash that looks like pimples, to squiggly red lines where they've burrowed under the...

Related to ticks, mites are an extremely successful group of insect-like invertebrates. Their success is due in part to their microscopic size and also to their ability to thrive in a wide variety...