Efficacy of Concentrated Heat for Treatment of Insect Bites: A Real-world Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v103.11592Keywords:
insect bites and stings, hyperthermia, pruritus, itchAbstract
Insect bites that cause itch, pain and swelling are very common. The use of concentrated heat for relief of these symptoms may be a promising approach; however, the scientific evidence for efficacy of hyperthermia treatment is sparse. We report here the results of a large real-world study using a randomized control group to assess the efficacy of hyperthermia on insect bites in real-world conditions, specifically considering mosquito bites as the most common type. The study was conducted in a decentralized manner via a smartphone-controlled medical device, heat it®, for treatment of insect bites and stings through application of heat. The application that controls the device was accompanied by additional questionnaires, that collected data related to insect bites, such as itch and pain intensity. Analysis of data from over 12,000 collected treated insect bites, generated by approximately 1,750 participants (42% female, 39 ± 13 years) showed significant inhibition of itch and pain for all investigated insect species (mosquitoes, horseflies, bees and wasps). Mosquito bite-induced itch was reduced by 57% within the first minute and by 81% 5–10 min after treatment, and the overall reduction in itch and pain was more pronounced than in the control group. In conclusion, the results indicate that local application of heat relieves symptoms of insect bites.
Downloads
References
Cerpes U, Repelnig ML, Legat FJ. Itch in Hymenoptera sting reactions. Front Allergy 2021; 2: 727776.
https://doi.org/10.3389/falgy.2021.727776 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/falgy.2021.727776
Stibich AS, Carbonaro PA, Schwartz RA. Insect bite reactions: an update. Dermatology 2001; 202: 193-197.
https://doi.org/10.1159/000051635 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000051635
Brehler R. Insekten und Spinnentiere als Auslöser toxischer und allergischer Reaktionen in Deutschland. Allergo J 2017; 26: 31-40.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s15007-017-1368-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15007-017-1368-y
Demain JG. Hymenoptera allergy and anaphylaxis: are warmer temperatures changing the impact? Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2020; 20: 438-444.
https://doi.org/10.1097/ACI.0000000000000660 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/ACI.0000000000000660
Demain JG. Insect migration and changes in venom allergy due to climate change. Immunol Allergy Clin North Am 2021; 41: 85-95.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iac.2020.09.010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iac.2020.09.010
Przybilla B, Ruëff F. Insect Stings. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. 2012 [cited 2022 Dec 5]. Available from: https://www.aerzteblatt.de/10.3238/arztebl.2012.0238.
https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2012.0238 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2012.0238
Metz M, Piliponsky AM, Chen CC, Lammel V, Åbrink M, Pejler G, et al. Mast cells can enhance resistance to snake and honeybee venoms. Science 2006; 313: 526-530.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128877 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128877
Shi N, Szanto TG, He J, Schroeder CI, Walker AA, Deuis JR, et al. Venom composition and pain-causing toxins of the Australian great carpenter bee Xylocopa aruana. Sci Rep 2022; 12: 22168.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26867-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26867-8
Du YR, Xiao Y, Lu ZM, Ding J, Xie F, Fu H, et al. Melittin activates TRPV1 receptors in primary nociceptive sensory neurons via the phospholipase A2 cascade pathways. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2011; 408: 32-37.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2011.03.110 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2011.03.110
Andersen HH, Elberling J, Lo Vecchio S, Arendt-Nielsen L. Topography of itch: evidence of distinct coding for pruriception in the trigeminal nerve. Itch (Phila) 2017; 2: e2.
https://doi.org/10.1097/itx.0000000000000002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/itx.0000000000000002
Chen XJ, Sun YG. Central circuit mechanisms of itch. Nat Commun 2020; 11: 3052.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16859-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16859-5
Dong X, Dong X. Peripheral and central mechanisms of itch. Neuron 2018; 98: 482-494.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.03.023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.03.023
Yosipovitch G, Fast K, Bernhard JD. Noxious heat and scratching decrease histamine-induced itch and skin blood flow. J Invest Dermatol 2005; 125: 1268-1272.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-202X.2005.23942.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-202X.2005.23942.x
Riccio D, Andersen HH, Arendt-Nielsen L. Antipruritic effects of transient heat stimulation on histaminergic and nonhistaminergic itch. Br J Dermatol 2019; 181: 786-795.
https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.17825 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.17825
Mueller C, Grossjohann, Fischer. The use of concentrated heat after insect bites/stings as an alternative to reduce swelling, pain, and pruritus: an open cohort-study at German beaches and bathing-lakes. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol 2011; 4: 191-196.
https://doi.org/10.2147/CCID.S27825 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/CCID.S27825
Seda J, Horrall S. Mosquito Bites. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 [cited 2023 Mar 7]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539915/
Virtanen P, Gommers R, Oliphant TE, Haberland M, Reddy T, Cournapeau D, et al. SciPy 1.0: Fundamental algorithms for scientific computing in python. Nature Methods 2020; 17: 261-272. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-020-0772-5
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0686-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0686-2
Vargha A, Delaney HD, Vargha A. A Critique and Improvement of the "CL" Common Language Effect Size Statistics of McGraw and Wong. J Educat Behav Stats 2000; 25: 101.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1165329 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1165329
Vallat R. Pingouin: statistics in Python. J Open Source Software 2018; 3: 1026.
https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01026
Urban & Vogel. Was bei quälenden Mückenstichen hilft. MMW - Fortschritte der Medizin 2015; 157: 7.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s15006-015-3388-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15006-015-3388-4
Yosipovitch G, Duque MI, Fast K, Dawn AG, Coghill RC. Scratching and noxious heat stimuli inhibit itch in humans: a psychophysical study. Br J Dermatol 2007; 156: 629-634.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2006.07711.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2006.07711.x
Stevens JC, Choo KK. Temperature sensitivity of the body surface over the life span. Somatosens Mot Res 1998; 15: 13-28.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08990229870925 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08990229870925
Jankowski KS. Morning types are less sensitive to pain than evening types all day long: chronotype and pain. Eur J Pain 2013; 17: 1068-1073.
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1532-2149.2012.00274.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1532-2149.2012.00274.x
Juzniz-Zonta Z, Sanpera-Calbet I, Eritja R, Palmer J, Escobar A, Garriga J, et al. Mosquito alert: leveraging citizen science to create a GBIF mosquito occurrence dataset. Gigabyte 2022; 2022: gigabyte54.
https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.54 DOI: https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.54
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Martin Metz, Manuel Elberskirch, Christof Reuter, Lukas Liedtke, Marcus Maurer
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All digitalized ActaDV contents is available freely online. The Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica owns the copyright for all material published until volume 88 (2008) and as from volume 89 (2009) the journal has been published fully Open Access, meaning the authors retain copyright to their work.
Unless otherwise specified, all Open Access articles are published under CC-BY-NC licences, allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for non-commercial purposes, provided proper attribution to the original work.
