Polka dot syndrome

What is it?

Polka dot syndrome, also known as Jewel beetle's stress, is a skin disease caused by a jewel beetle when it is under stress or feels vulnerable. When under stress, the beetle bites the victim where it injects a fluid into the victim’s skin, containing harmful pigment proteins that give the beetle their vibrant colours. The spot on the skin will then soon change into the colour of the original beetle and a red ring forms around the coloured skin. These spots can quickly spread throughout the body as these pigments travel through the bloodstream and can affect the skin on different parts of the body. It is an infectious disease in terms of that anyone can get it and it can also be spread only if the fluid enters the body orally (water or food) or if the beetle itself injects it into the skin. However, it cannot spread through direct contact like most infectious diseases. It is obvious that that this is an infectious disease as the fluid that is produced can easily enter the body.

History

Over the years, jewel beetles have been very popular for their vibrant coloured wings, people have started to extract them and use them to make jewelery. Many people didn’t like this as this was thought be a form of animal cruelty but because of the growing trend, the demand of jewel beetle jewelery increased. With advanced technology and breeding programs, the scientists had come up with a new species of jewel beetles which had much vibrant colours, were able to drop their wings when they were under stress and regenerate them. This was a great deal as not only was this painless for the beetles, but is also a renewable source of beetle wings. However, over the years the population had increased so much that every household had a dozen of jewel beetles. Due to exposure to harmful chemicals and poor breeding, the beetles have come up with a new defense mechanism where they release fluids that numb their predator. Due to this, scientists tried to re-breed the beetles so that they can be like their previous form however, over breeding has caused a mutation in them where they instead release a fluid that contains proteins containing pigment.

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms:

• sweating
• Nausea (when bitten)
• Numbing of skin (after a few days of being bitten)
• Sudden stinging and burning of skin
• Coloured spots on the skin that have a red ring around them (might be all over the body)

General description of the symptoms:

When bitten by a jewel beetle, the bitten area will instantly go numb and you might feel nauseas. Over the next 2-4 days, the injected area will slowly start to change colour, killing your skin cells, and a red ring will form around the coloured skin. You might also notice that you have more of these spots around your body over weeks and these spots will be different colours, depending on the beetle’s colours. The skin might also sting and burn from time to time

How it effects the body & The body's reaction

As mentioned before, when the beetle bites the victim, it releases a fluid containing pigment-proteins that are highly dangerous. When the fluid enter the body, it numbs the skin and makes you feel nauseous. This is the body's way of telling that something foreign has entered the body. You also start sweating as your nervous system and endocrine system work together to calm you down. When it enters the body, blood immediately reaches the top of the skin and the body already starts producing antibodies to get rid of the fluid and most of the time it is successful at getting rid of 10% of the fluid, delaying the effects up to 2-4 days. Later, the skin changes colour and the protein kills the skin cells around it. As they die, blood containing fighter cells comes up to the skin t however it ends up going around the spot, creating a ring. The fluid is also able to travel all around the body through the bloodstream however, it only effects one side of the body and rarely both sides as the body comes up with antibodies that destroys the protein before it can go to the other side of the body.

What causes this disease?

This is a complicated case because the pathogen is actually the jewel beetle itself as it produces the chemical fluid filled with pigment carrying protein, which when injected, causes the actual disease. So the pathogen of this disease is a mix between a protozoan (beetle produces the chemicals inside the body and carries it) and a prion (the actual protein fluid that causes the disease)

Possible antigen

Scientists are still coming up with one and are in progress of creating a vaccine where they are using weaker jewel beetles and are using small amounts of the fluid mixed with other substances to make it less concentrated. These vaccines have been tested on 50 people and so far the results are positive however, scientists are still working on it for the next two years to develop a safe and effective vaccine. They are also trying to extract the protein within the fluid that can act as an antigen for the vaccines which will be then mixed with other substances and this can be an effective vaccine.

Treatments

These treatments were immediately developed after the first 50 reports of the disease. They are really effective at getting rid of the disease but medications must be taken for a couple of months for effective results. These help sooth the pain, remove the pigmentation and prevent the disease from further spreading around the body

• Medication such as creams and ointments sooth the pain caused by the stinging of the skin
• Vaccines (still in development)
• Injections with medicne that will help the skin recover and help reduce the pigmentation
• Surgery where the dead, coloured skin will be removed and replaced by new skin cells
• Oral Medication that prevents the protein from further traveling around the body

How can we control the spread of the disease and prevent from getting it?

• Once the vaccines are fully developed, they shall be available for everyone. Vaccines is a good way to prevent extreme cases of the disease
• Do not go near or hold a jewel beetle as you would most likely get bitten by it
• Start programs where the population of the beetles can be controlled
• Wear creams that will protect you from bug bites
• Do not drink or eat food that are suspicious of being contaminated

References

• Patrick Davis, C. (2019). Is Malaria Contagious?. [online] MedicineNet. Available at: https://www.medicinenet.com/is_malaria_contagious/article.htm#how_does_malaria_spread [Accessed 9 Sep. 2019].
• Health.nsw.gov.au. (2019). Malaria. [online] Available at: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/malaria.aspx [Accessed 15 Sep. 2019].
• Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Antigen biochemistry. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/antigen [Accessed 12 Sep. 2019].