While backpacking in Asia, a 22-year-old British woman thought she was living her dream in Vietnam. But one morning, in a village room, she wakes up with chills, a high fever, nausea and a headache. In front of the mirror, his face suddenly seems tense, as if burning.
In a few hours, her body becomes covered in redness, blisters and open sores, without her understanding what attacked her during the night. Isolated in the middle of the rice fields, far from a hospital, it took her several hours to discover that these lesions came from a tiny toxic beetle, very widespread in the region and very active during the monsoon.
The awakening of a tourist marked by a toxic beetle
The young woman, named Ellise, had been traveling through Asia for several weeks when the episode occurred in Vietnam. She wakes up with fever, nausea, violent headaches and patches all over her body, some already blistered. In this rural area without a doctor, a pharmacy photographs his wounds and sends them to a dermatologist, who identifies the Paederus fuscipes.
On TikTok, Ellise shows a face covered in dark patches and explains her fear of keeping marks. The caregivers prescribed several creams, ointments and antibiotics. Five days later, his face had improved significantly: “I am very satisfied with the healing process“, she says. She adds: “I was lucky” And “The scars are almost gone but the experience was scary“.
Paederus fuscipes, a tiny insect with giant burns
This staphylin, often mistaken for a small ant, measures only 0.8 to 1.2 cm. Its thin body alternates black and orange-yellow segments. Very present in humid tropical areas, it swarms at the beginning of the rainy seasonwhen heat and humidity increase. Attracted by artificial light, it sneaks into rooms, climbs walls and can land on the skin of a sleeping traveler.
THE poisonous beetle does not sting: the danger appears when it is crushed or rubbed on the skin. The female produces a toxin, pederinestored in its abdomen to protect its eggs. According to Vietnamese specialists, this substance causes burns 100 to 150 times more serious than sulfuric acid, with blisters, ulcerations, contact dermatitis and risk of burning the retina if the eyes are affected.
Burns, care and prevention for travelers to Vietnam
Contact with the insect hardly hurts at the moment: the skin tingles slightly. Six to eight hours later, a red zone appears; After 12 to 24 hours, itchy blisters and blisters form. If the area is quickly cleaned with soap and water or saline solution, then a zinc oxide product or topical antibacterial is applied, the lesions begin to dry around the third day and heal in 5 to 7 days, although dark spots may remain for several months. Vietnamese doctors recommend never crushing the insect, blowing it away or using a piece of paper, then washing the area and sleeping under a mosquito net with dimming lights at night.