Page 144 - LECTURE NOTES

Early detection and treatment of cases will help the spread of viral infections to

others. The three main types of treatments are:

ª Mechanical,

ª Chemical, and,
ª Immunologic

2. Enforcing the practice of good personal hygiene, such as regular bathing,
laundering clothes, not sharing towels, soaps and wearing sandals in communal

showers.
3. Avoid contact with vesicles.

4. Herpes lesions must be completely dry and crusted and should be covered until

completely resolved.
5. Cover all warts until completely resolved.

6. Care providers should wear gloves.
7. Educating the people about prevention strategies is an important task.

8. Warm showers are recommended in herpes simplex-I in order to cleanse the

infected area and to reduce secondary bacterial infection. Afterwards, towel dry
gently, or dry the area with a hair dryer on a low or cool setting.

6.6. Arthropods and skin disease

Arthropods have been associated with human beings since the age of antiquity.

Although arthropods are important in maintaining the ecosystem we live in, they can
adversely affect our health in several ways:

(i) By causing direct, non allergic, local tissue damage through stings, bites,

exposure of toxic body fluid (blister beetles), and tissue invasion (sand flea and
brown recluse spider).

(ii) By causing allergic reactions to their secrations, skins, or scales.

(iii) By producing systemic toxicity, such as that caused by neurotoxin release
(black widow spider and scorpions).

(iv) By transmitting diseases.

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