Mistakes in handling ant bites can be life-threatening.

The body of the ant contains pederin, which is 12-15 times more toxic than cobra venom.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Thuong, Director of the Central Dermatology Hospital (Hanoi), said that from late September to early October until now, the three-compartment ants have appeared in large numbers. Therefore, the number of patients hospitalized due to poisoning from this insect has increased rapidly.

Many of these cases showed signs of severe infection at the bites. In fact, many families of three people were hospitalized because of the three-cavity ant.

When bitten by a three-cavity ant, it can leave serious consequences on the skin, especially for young children. The basic damage is in the form of red patches, in patches, in streaks, in the direction of the hand, slightly raised base, with small blisters or pustules in the middle, with a slightly concave area of ​​yellow-brown color, round or oval.

According to Associate Professor Thuong, the three-compartment ant is an insect with a long body and alternating black and orange-yellow segments. They appear a lot at the beginning of the rainy season and love the light at night. After the rains, the water floods and there is no place to live, so they fly into the house following the light.

The three-compartment ant (or compartment ant) ​​is an insect with a long, slender body, two colors of red and black forming alternating black and orange-yellow compartments. The three-compartment ant also has many different names such as squint ant, rice ant, locked ant, chin pair, and curved-butt ant.

“Autumn and winter are the season for ants, so the number of patients hospitalized due to insect bites increases sharply. Many days we receive several hundred patients.

“The number of patients is very large, because they do not understand this species of ant. They often accidentally crush or rub the ant, causing them to be poisoned,” said Dr. Thuong.

The poison of the three-compartment ant causes uncomfortable blistering, more severe cases can cause pus, ulcers, edema, fever, and even necrosis.

Dr. Le Huu Doanh - Deputy Director of the hospital - added: "We once received a patient who almost suffered from genital necrosis. He had genital herpes because he crushed an ant and applied it to the herpes because he thought it was a poison to fight poison. Immediately after that, his entire genitals were severely damaged. If he had not been hospitalized in time, the consequences would have been unpredictable."

Dr. Doanh noted that the body of this insect contains pederin, which is 12-15 times more toxic than cobra venom. Although highly toxic, the small amount of contact and skin contact is not enough to kill a person like snake venom.

According to experts, people still lack knowledge about ants, which leads to dangerous complications when attacked by them.

“Many people do not go to the doctor immediately but use medicine on their own and scratch vigorously, causing the poison to spread throughout the body,” Dr. Thuong warned.

Therefore, people who are bitten by banded ants, accidentally crushed to death, or rubbed on the skin need to quickly wash with water and soap the skin area suspected of being infested with pederin (can be washed with antiseptic potassium permanganate).

After being bitten by a red ant, the patient feels a tingling sensation; 6-8 hours later, a red rash appears; 12-24 hours later, typical lesions appear; After 3 days, the lesions begin to burn less and peel off; After 5-7 days, the scales peel off completely but leave behind dark patches that take a long time to disappear.

If the inflamed skin area turns into an ulcer, the patient needs to apply clean, wet, cool, sterile gauze; calamine lotion or corticosteroid cream can be applied to the ulcer.

When there are signs of secondary infection with blisters under the skin, the patient can use antibiotics in combination. Symptoms of dermatitis will disappear within 2-3 weeks. Severe cases need to be examined by a dermatologist and use medication as directed by the doctor.

According to Zing