There is a small insect known as the Rove Beetle that is endemic to Cameroon (as well as a few other places across the globe), that reportedly has the most poisonous venom known to man - 12x more potent than cobra venom. It does not typically cause problems, unless you unwittingly smash the creature on your skin, causing the toxic liquid to squirt out all over you. Well, we have both been creechied. I received the bug juice on my arm (which spread to my upper arm and torso), and the infection got super-infected with Staph, so I am now on an oral penicillin as well as topical steroids. Poor Lindsay, in addition to the intense burn and then itch, developed a severe id reaction to the mess (a systemic inflammatory response that results in small red, itchy bumps and small vesicles all over) and has been frightening her patients away!
All that being said, the itch is improving, we are on the mend, and we will hopefully be off of medications within the next 2 weeks. Yikes!
JR's arm: the area spread for the first two days and became edematous as well as intensely pruritic. The actual dermatitis eventually resembles a burn wound as the toxin is so strong.
Lindsay's id reaction
Sleep has been difficult because of the itching, but systemic steroids work wonders. Thankfully once the initial insult was over, we are not able to spread the rash to our patients, although we have had a lot of explaining to do so that they are not afraid!
Love you all.
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