Residential areas near fields or lawns, especially high-rise apartment buildings, should be careful of rove beetle, an insect that can inflict poisonous bites on humans, a health expert has warned. — Photo tienphong.vn

HÀ NỘI – Residential areas near fields or lawns, especially high-rise apartment buildings, should be careful of rove beetle, an insect that can inflict poisonous bites on humans, a health expert has warned.

Dr Trương Xuan Lam, deputy head of the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources said that rove beetles tended to move to light areas, so people should close windows to avoid the insect.

He made the warning following an increase in the number of people bitten by rove beetles.

Mai Lan, resident in Linh Đàm Urban Area in Hoàng Mai District said she mistook the rash for a Herpes zoster infection, a viral skin infection characterised by a painful skin rash with blisters on one side of the body.

She treated it with lotions, but the situation did not improve. When she had skin tests done, she knew she was bitten by the beetle.

Lam said people who were bitten by rove beetles would experience stinging blisters on open skin. Although it is not life threatening, people bitten by rove beetles usually suffer a painful skin rash.

People should have skin tests to get proper treatment, he said. — VNS