A healthy 30-yr-old woman carrying an insect that had been caught in her living room visited the International Clinic at Severance Hospital, Seoul, in December 2007. The insect she brought was identified to be a nymph of a bedbug, Cimex lectularius, and her skin rashes looked typical bedbug's bites. Her apartment was investigated, and a dead body of a bedbug, cast skins, and hatched eggs were found in her rooms and neighbors' rooms in the same building. She was living in that apartment in Seoul for 9 months since she had moved from New Jersey, USA. We assume that the bedbugs were introduced from abroad, since there had been no report on bedbugs in Seoul for more than 2 decades at least. This is a report of a reemergence of the common bedbug, C. lectularius in Seoul, Korea.
Adult ; Animals ; *Bedbugs/anatomy & histology ; Dermatitis/*pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Insect Bites and Stings/*pathology ; Insecticides ; Korea/epidemiology

A case of tick bite was found in the inguinal region of a 74-year-old Korean woman. She was attacked by the tick while working in her vegetable garden in the vicinity of mountain located in Suncheon City, the southern coastal area of the Korean Peninsula. On admission she complained of mild discomfort and itching around the bite area. The causative tick was 23 mm long and had slender pedipalps. The scutum was quite ornate and had eyes at the edge. The genital aperture was located anterior to the level of the coxa II. The spiracular plate was comma-shaped and the anus was surrounded posteriorly by the anal groove. The coxa I had subequal 2 spurs; the external one slightly larger. The spur of coxa IV was slightly longer than those of coxae II and III. The tarsus IV had 2 distinct subapical ventral spurs. It was identified as the fully engorged adult female of Amblyomma testudinarium. This is the first human case of Amblyomma bite in Korea.
Abdomen/*pathology ; Aged ; Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Insect Bites and Stings/*pathology ; Ixodidae/anatomy & histology/*classification ; Republic of Korea

Hypersensitivity to mosquito bites (HMB) is a rare disease characterized by intense skin reactions such as bulla and necrotic ulcerations at bite sites, accompanied by general symptoms such as high-grade fever and malaise occurred after mosquito bites. It has been suggested that HMB is associated with chronic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and natural killer (NK) cell leukemia/lymphoma. We describe here a Korean child who presented with 3-yr history of HMB without natural killer cell lymphocytosis. He has been ill for 6 yr with HMB. Close observation and examination for the development of lymphoproliferative status or hematologic malignant disorders is needed.
Child ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/complications ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity/*diagnosis/etiology ; Insect Bites and Stings/*diagnosis/pathology ; Killer Cells, Natural/immunology ; Lymphocytosis/complications/pathology ; Male ; Republic of Korea ; Skin/pathology

Hymenoptera stings can cause serious injury to humans. We report the clinical findings of 6 cases of Hymenoptera stings. All patients developed painful erythematous papules at the sting sites and had a past history of parasitoid wasp sting. This is the first clinical report of the parasitoid wasp, Cephalonomia gallicola, causing human stings in Korea.
Adult ; Animals ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Gram-Positive Bacteria ; Humans ; Hymenoptera/*growth & development ; Insect Bites and Stings/*diagnosis/*pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea

Hypersensitivity to mosquito bites (HMB) is characterized by intense skin reactions at bite sites. The pathogenesis of HMB might be related to clonal lymphoproliferation of Epstein-Barr virus DNA-positive natural killer (NK) cells. We report the first case of HMB possibly associated with NK cell-derived large granular lymphocyte (NK-LGL) lymphocytosis in Korea.
Adult ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; *Culicidae ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/*complications/diagnosis ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity/*etiology/virology ; Insect Bites and Stings/*complications/immunology ; Killer Cells, Natural/*immunology/pathology ; Korea ; Lymphocytosis/*complications/pathology ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prognosis ; Risk Assessment

Hypersensitivity to mosquito bites (HMB) is a disorder characterized by a necrotic skin reaction and generalized symptoms subsequent to mosquito bites. It has been suggested that HMB is associated with chronic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and natural killer cell leukemia/lymphoma. We describe here a Korean child who had HMB associated with chronic EBV infection and natural killer cell lymphocytosis. A 5-yr-old boy was suffered from necrotic skin lesions on the right ear lobe. Type A EB virus was detected from hlood cells and bone marrow biospy recognized hemophagocyrosis.
Animals ; Child, Preschool ; Culicidae/*immunology ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/complications/*diagnosis ; Herpesvirus 4, Human/genetics/isolation & purification ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity/complications/*diagnosis ; Insect Bites and Stings/complications/*immunology ; Killer Cells, Natural/immunology/*pathology ; Lymphocytosis/complications/*diagnosis ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo study the clinicopathologic features, immunophenotype and gene rearrangement of primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg type (PCLBCL).

METHODSSeven cases of PCLBCL were enrolled into the study. Clinicopathologic analysis, immunohistochemical staining and gene rearrangement for IgH and Igκ were undertaken in the study.

RESULTSAll the seven cases were male, and the median age was 72 years. Patients usually presented with multiple purple tumors, nodules, papules and infiltrative plaques. Two patients had a history of leg injury before onset, and one had mosquito bites. Histologically, the tumor involved the dermis and subcutis with dense and diffuse infiltrative pattern composing of centroblasts and/or immunoblasts. Immunohistochemical staining showed that seven cases (7/7) expressed CD20, six (6/6) expressed bcl-2, four (4/4) expressed MUM-1, four (4/5) expressed CD79a, four (4/5) expressed PAX-5 and four (4/6) expressed bcl-6, respectively. All cases did not express CD3ε, CD45RO, CD10 and CD30. IgH gene rearranged bands were detected in three (3/6) cases and Igκ was detected in one (1/5) case. Six of the seven cases died and the remaining patient, who was 44-year-old, was alive after 22 months of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONSPCLBCL is rare, predominantly affects elderly male patients. PCLBCL has poor prognosis and high mortality, but younger patients seem to have better prognosis. Some cases had a history of trauma or mosquito bites. The relationship between the history and the onset of PCLBCL needs further evaluation.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Antigens, CD ; analysis ; Culicidae ; Gene Rearrangement ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains ; genetics ; Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains ; genetics ; Immunophenotyping ; Insect Bites and Stings ; complications ; Leg ; Leg Injuries ; complications ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-6 ; metabolism ; Skin Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology