Bites and Stings Health Article

ORGANIZATIONS

American Academy of Clinical Toxicology. 777 East Park Drive, PO Box 8820, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8820. (717) 558-7750, Fax: (717) 558-7845. <http://www.clintox.org/index.html>. hmiller@pamedsoc.org.

American Academy of Emergency Medicine. 611 East Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202. (800) 884-2236, Fax: (414) 276-3349. <http://www.aaem.org/>.

American Academy of Family Physicians, 11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Leawood, KS 66211-2672. (913) 906-6000. <http://www.aafp.org/>. fp@aafp.org.

American Academy of Pediatrics, 141 Northwest Point Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098. (847) 434-4000, Fax: (847) 434-8000. <http://www.aap.org/default.htm>. kidsdoc@aap.org.

American Association of Poison Control Centers, 3201 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016. (202) 362-7217. Fax: (202) 362-8377. <http://www.aapcc.org/>.

American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 55 West Seegers Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005.(708) 228-6850. Fax: (708) 228-1856. <http://www.acoem.org/>.

American Medical Association, 515 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60610. (312) 464-5000. <http://www.ama-assn.org/>.

OTHER

City of Phoenix, Arizona. <http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/FIRE/bitessna.html>.

Southwestern University School of Medicine. <http://www.swmed.edu/toxicology/toxlinks.htm>

Toxicology Professional Groups. <http://www.pitt.edu/~martint/pages/motoxorg.htm#AAPCC>.

University of Sydney, Australia. <http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/anaes/spiders.html>.

Vanderbilt University. <http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/clintox/>.

L. Fleming Fallon, Jr., MD, PhD

KEY TERMS

Anaphylaxis—A life-threatening allergic reaction occurring in persons hypersensitive to bites and stings.

Antibiotics—Substances used against bacteria that cause infection.

Antibodies—Substances created by the body to combat infection.

Antihistamines—Drugs used to treat allergic reactions by acting against a substance called histamine.

Arachnid—Large class of arthropods that include spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks. Arachnids have a segmented body divided into two parts, one of which has four pairs of legs but no antennae.

Arachnidism—Poisoning resulting from the bite or sting of an arachnid.

Bacteremia—Bacteria in the blood.

Blood serum—A component of blood.

Immune system—The body system that fights infection and protects the body against foreign invaders and disease.

Killer bees—Hybrids of African bees accidentally introduced into the wild in South and North America in 1956 and first reported in Texas in 1990. They were first imported by Brazilian scientists attempting to create a new hybrid bee to improve honey production.

Lymph nodes—Small, kidney-shaped organs that filter a fluid called lymph and that are part of the body's immune system.

Pus—A thick yellowish or greenish fluid composed of the remains of dead white blood cells, pathogens and decomposed cellular debris.