What are pubic lice and how do they spread. What symptoms indicate a pubic lice infestation. How are pubic lice diagnosed and treated effectively. Can pubic lice be prevented and what are the long-term implications.

Understanding Pubic Lice: The Basics of Genital Crabs

Pubic lice, commonly known as crabs, are tiny parasitic insects that infest the pubic hair region. These minuscule creatures, while not disease-carrying, can cause significant discomfort and embarrassment. But what exactly are pubic lice?

Pubic lice are small, wingless insects that feed on human blood. They’re called “crabs” due to their crab-like appearance when viewed under magnification. These parasites primarily inhabit coarse body hair, with a preference for the pubic region. However, they can also be found in other areas with coarse hair, such as:

• Chest hair
• Armpit hair
• Facial hair (beard and mustache)
• Eyebrows
• Eyelashes (in rare cases)

Despite their name, pubic lice are different from head lice and body lice. Each type of louse is adapted to live in specific areas of the human body and rarely strays from its preferred habitat.

The Life Cycle of Pubic Lice: From Egg to Adult

Understanding the life cycle of pubic lice is crucial for effective treatment and prevention. These parasites go through three distinct stages in their life cycle:

1. Nits (Eggs)

The life cycle begins with nits, which are the eggs of pubic lice. These tiny, oval-shaped eggs are usually yellowish-white in color and are firmly attached to the base of pubic hair shafts. Nits are often difficult to spot with the naked eye due to their small size.

2. Nymphs

After about 6-10 days, the nits hatch into nymphs. These immature lice resemble smaller versions of adult lice. Nymphs undergo several molts over a period of about two weeks before reaching adulthood.

3. Adult Lice

Fully grown pubic lice are approximately 1.5-2mm in length. They have a tan to grayish-white color and are equipped with six legs. The front pair of legs is notably larger, resembling the pincers of a crab – hence their colloquial name.

Adult pubic lice can live for up to 30 days on a human host. However, they typically die within 24-48 hours if they fall off or are removed from the body, as they cannot survive long without a blood meal.

Transmission and Risk Factors: How Do You Get Pubic Lice?

Pubic lice are highly contagious, but how exactly are they transmitted? The primary mode of transmission is through close physical contact, particularly sexual contact. However, it’s important to note that pubic lice can spread in other ways as well.

Sexual Transmission

The most common way to contract pubic lice is through sexual activity. This includes not only intercourse but also intimate skin-to-skin contact. It’s worth noting that condoms do not provide protection against pubic lice, as they can easily crawl around the condom.

Non-Sexual Transmission

While less common, it is possible to get pubic lice through non-sexual means. This can occur by sharing personal items such as:

• Towels
• Clothing (especially underwear)
• Bedding

Is it possible to get pubic lice from toilet seats? This is a common misconception. The likelihood of contracting pubic lice from a toilet seat is extremely low. Pubic lice cannot grip smooth surfaces well and do not survive long away from a human host.

Risk Factors

While anyone can get pubic lice, certain factors may increase the risk:

1. Multiple sexual partners
2. History of other sexually transmitted infections
3. Sharing living spaces or personal items with an infested person
4. Poor personal hygiene

It’s important to note that pubic lice infestations are not indicative of poor personal hygiene. Even the most fastidious individuals can contract pubic lice if exposed.

Recognizing the Signs: Symptoms of Pubic Lice Infestation

Identifying a pubic lice infestation early is crucial for prompt treatment and preventing spread to others. But what symptoms should you look out for?

Common Symptoms

The most prevalent symptoms of pubic lice infestation include:

• Intense itching in the pubic region
• Visible lice or eggs on pubic hair
• Small, red or blue spots on the skin (caused by lice bites)
• Visible brown or black powder in underwear (lice droppings)
• Irritation and inflammation of the affected area

Less Common Symptoms

In some cases, individuals with pubic lice may experience:

• Low-grade fever
• Fatigue or irritability
• Secondary skin infections (due to scratching)

When do symptoms typically appear after infestation? Symptoms of pubic lice usually manifest about 5 days after initial infestation. However, in some cases, it may take up to several weeks for noticeable symptoms to develop.

Diagnosis and Detection: Confirming a Pubic Lice Infestation

Suspecting you might have pubic lice can be distressing, but how can you confirm your suspicions? Let’s explore the diagnostic process for pubic lice infestations.

Self-Examination

The first step in diagnosing pubic lice often involves self-examination. This can be done by carefully inspecting the pubic area for signs of lice or nits. However, due to their small size, pubic lice can be difficult to spot with the naked eye.

To perform a self-examination:

1. Use a bright light and a magnifying glass if available
2. Look closely at the base of pubic hairs for eggs (nits) or moving lice
3. Check other body areas with coarse hair (armpits, chest, etc.)
4. Look for any unusual specks or spots in your underwear

Professional Diagnosis

If you’re unsure about your self-examination or if symptoms persist, it’s advisable to seek professional medical diagnosis. A healthcare provider can confirm the presence of pubic lice through:

• Visual inspection using magnification
• Microscopic examination of suspicious particles found in the pubic area
• Dermatoscopy (a non-invasive technique using a specialized microscope)

During a professional diagnosis, your healthcare provider may also recommend testing for other sexually transmitted infections, as pubic lice can sometimes co-occur with other STIs.

Treatment Options: Eradicating Pubic Lice Effectively

Once a pubic lice infestation is confirmed, prompt treatment is crucial. But what are the most effective treatment options for pubic lice?

Over-the-Counter Treatments

The most common and accessible treatments for pubic lice are over-the-counter (OTC) medications. These typically come in the form of lotions, shampoos, or creams containing insecticides. Popular OTC treatments include:

• Permethrin 1% lotion or cream
• Pyrethrin-based shampoos

These treatments are generally safe and effective when used as directed. However, it’s important to follow the instructions carefully and often repeat the treatment after 7-9 days to ensure all newly hatched lice are eliminated.

Prescription Treatments

In some cases, particularly for severe or resistant infestations, a healthcare provider may prescribe stronger treatments such as:

• Malathion 0.5% lotion
• Ivermectin (oral medication)
• Lindane 1% shampoo (used only in cases where other treatments have failed)

These prescription treatments should only be used under medical supervision due to potential side effects and contraindications.

Complementary Measures

In addition to medication, certain complementary measures can aid in treatment:

1. Washing all clothing, bedding, and towels in hot water (at least 130°F)
2. Dry cleaning items that can’t be washed
3. Sealing non-washable items in plastic bags for two weeks
4. Vacuum cleaning carpets and upholstered furniture

Is shaving pubic hair an effective treatment for pubic lice? While shaving can remove some lice and eggs, it’s not a recommended treatment on its own. Shaving can cause skin irritation and doesn’t guarantee complete eradication of the infestation.

Prevention and Long-Term Management: Avoiding Reinfestation

After successfully treating a pubic lice infestation, preventing reinfestation becomes a priority. What steps can be taken to avoid future infestations?

Personal Prevention Measures

To reduce the risk of contracting or spreading pubic lice:

• Avoid sharing personal items like clothing, towels, or bedding
• Practice safe sex and limit the number of sexual partners
• Inspect yourself regularly if you’re at high risk
• Maintain good personal hygiene

Partner Notification and Treatment

If you’ve been diagnosed with pubic lice, it’s crucial to inform all sexual partners from the past month. They should be examined and treated if necessary to prevent reinfestation.

Follow-Up and Monitoring

After treatment, continue to monitor for signs of reinfestation for several weeks. If symptoms persist or recur, consult a healthcare provider for further evaluation and treatment.

Can pubic lice develop resistance to treatments? While rare, there have been reports of pubic lice developing resistance to some OTC treatments. If initial treatment fails, it’s important to consult a healthcare provider for alternative options.

Myths and Misconceptions: Debunking Common Beliefs About Pubic Lice

Despite being a common condition, pubic lice are surrounded by numerous myths and misconceptions. Let’s address some of these to provide clarity and reduce stigma.

Myth: Only Unhygienic People Get Pubic Lice

This is a harmful misconception. Pubic lice can infest anyone, regardless of personal hygiene habits. While good hygiene is important for overall health, it doesn’t prevent pubic lice infestation.

Myth: Pubic Lice Can Jump or Fly

Contrary to popular belief, pubic lice cannot jump or fly. They can only crawl and require close physical contact to spread from one person to another.

Myth: You Can Get Pubic Lice from Animals

Pubic lice are human-specific parasites. They cannot be transmitted from or to pets or other animals.

Myth: Pubic Lice Can Spread HIV or Other STIs

While pubic lice are often associated with sexual activity, they do not transmit HIV or other sexually transmitted infections. However, their presence may indicate potential exposure to other STIs.

Myth: You Need to Fumigate Your Home to Get Rid of Pubic Lice

Fumigation is unnecessary and potentially harmful. Thorough cleaning and washing of personal items are sufficient complementary measures to medical treatment.

By dispelling these myths, we can promote better understanding and reduce the stigma associated with pubic lice infestations, encouraging those affected to seek prompt treatment without shame or embarrassment.

Pubic Lice (Genital Crabs): Symptoms, Treatment

Overview

What are pubic lice?

Pubic lice are also called crabs. These tiny insects live on your pubic hair — the hair below the belly button, around the genitals. Pubic lice rarely live on the scalp, but they can live in other hairy parts of the body, including:

• Armpits.
• Beard and mustache.
• Chest.
• Eyebrows and eyelashes.

Are pubic lice a disease?

Pubic lice don’t carry or spread diseases. So you can’t get sick from them. But they are annoying and itchy. You may end up with a bacterial infection from scratching. When you scratch, you can break the skin. Bacteria can enter the skin and cause an infection.

Are pubic lice an STD?

Pubic lice often get lumped in with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). That’s because people get pubic lice most often during sex. But pubic lice are not an actual disease or infection.

How do you get pubic lice?

You get genital crabs by coming into close physical contact with a person who has them. The lice jump from the pubic hair of one person to another. Usually, people catch crabs by having sex with a person who has them. Even if there’s no penetration or intercourse, the close physical contact means you can catch or spread crabs.

You can occasionally get crabs other ways, too. You can catch them by sharing or having contact with the clothes, linens and towels of a person who has them. But you won’t get crabs through casual contact, such as handshakes or hugs.

Can I get crabs by sharing a toilet seat with a person who has crabs?

You most likely cannot get crabs by sharing a toilet seat with someone who has them. The lice can’t live very long when they’re away from a human body. And their legs can’t hold onto a smooth surface like a toilet seat.

What do pubic lice look like?

The lice look different depending on their stage of growth:

• Nits: These lice eggs are hard to see. They’re usually oval and yellow or white.
• Nymph: This is the young louse (singular of lice) that hatches from the egg. Each one needs about two to three weeks to become a mature adult.
• Adult: A fully grown louse has six legs. The front legs are larger and resemble a crab’s pincher claws. Adults are tan or grayish-white.

Nymphs and adult lice feed on blood. Once a louse falls off a person, it dies within a day or two.

Can I get pubic lice from a pet?

No. Dogs, cats and other pets don’t spread pubic lice.

Are pubic lice the same as head lice?

The lice you can get on your head are a different type of lice than pubic lice.

Can children get pubic lice?

Children might get infested if they sleep in the same bed as someone who has pubic lice. Often, pubic lice in a child is a sign of sexual abuse.

How common are pubic lice?

Pubic lice are common, found in people around the world, of every race and ethnic group. Pubic lice are most common in adults. Every year, about 3 million people in the United States get pubic lice.

Symptoms and Causes

What causes pubic lice?

You typically get pubic lice by being physically close to a person who has them. During sex, for example, the lice can jump from your partner’s pubic hair to your own.

Less often, lice spread through shared clothes, towels and linens.

What are the symptoms of crabs?

Pubic lice symptoms often show up about five days after you get infested. Symptoms of crabs include:

• Pruritus (severe itching) in hairy areas, especially pubic hair.
• Specks of blood in your underwear.
• Small white dots on pubic hair that are hard to remove.
• Pale bluish spots on your thighs, buttocks and lower abdomen.
• Low fever and feeling run-down.

Why do pubic lice itch?

The lice feed on your blood. They make small bites on your skin. An allergic reaction to the bites causes the itchiness.

Diagnosis and Tests

How can I know if I have pubic lice?

You may see the lice, though they’re small and can be hard to spot. That’s the best way to know for sure if you have them. Pubic lice are the size of a pinhead and look like tiny gray crabs.

How will my provider diagnose pubic lice?

You may have symptoms of pubic lice but can’t see the lice. If you’re not sure, see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis. Your provider may use a magnifying glass to spot the lice. If you have pubic lice, your provider will likely recommend testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

Management and Treatment

What is pubic lice treatment?

You treat pubic lice using a special shampoo or cream. You can typically buy these treatments over-the-counter, without a prescription. They are safe and effective. Make sure to follow the directions on the package carefully

For best results from the lice treatment, follow these steps:

• Check for lice in your underarm hair and other hairy parts of your body. Wash and dry your body.
• Apply the shampoo or cream on all the areas that may have crabs — thighs, underarms and trunk (lower abdomen and buttocks, including near the rectum). Do not put it on your eyelashes.
• Leave the shampoo or cream for the amount of time recommended in the instructions, then rinse it off.
• Remove nits from hair strands using fingers or a fine-toothed comb. Put on clean underwear and clothing after treatment.
• Clean your clothes, bed linens and towels using the hot cycles of your washer and dryer. The heat destroys the crabs. Place items you can’t wash in a sealed plastic bag for two weeks. Or get them dry-cleaned.
• Do not spray insecticide on your clothes or other objects in your house.
• Pause your sex life until the crabs go away, usually about two weeks.
• Repeat the treatment in nine to 10 days if the lice remain.

What are the types of shampoos and creams for pubic lice?

Pubic lice treatments that you can buy without a prescription include:

Common brand names of these lice treatments include A-200®, RID® and Nix®.

Are there prescription medications for pubic lice?

If over-the-counter approaches don’t work, you may need a prescription for stronger treatments. Your healthcare provider may recommend a topical cream for your body or a shampoo. Oral medicines (taken by mouth) may provide another option, too. Lice get exposed to these drugs when they bite you and draw blood.

One of the prescription options is called lindane shampoo (Kwell®). It destroys lice and eggs but can have serious side effects. It may be toxic to the brain and nervous system. Usually, providers recommend lindane shampoo only when other treatments have failed.

Can I use other at-home treatments for pubic lice?

Special lice shampoos or creams are the only treatments that will work. They destroy pubic lice. Shaving or taking hot baths won’t destroy the lice. You can use a hydrocortisone cream to stop the itching, but it won’t treat the lice.

How do I treat lice in my eyelashes?

You need special treatment for lice in your eyelashes. Contact your healthcare provider to find out the best way to treat the problem.

Can I use pubic lice treatment if I’m pregnant or breastfeeding?

If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your healthcare provider before using any lice treatment.

Should my sex partner(s) get treated?

Get in touch with your sexual partner(s) from the previous month. They may have pubic lice, too, and will need treatment.

Prevention

How can I prevent genital crabs?

The only guaranteed way to prevent pubic lice is to avoid any close physical contact with people. Still, you can take reasonable steps to lower your risk for crabs and prevent them from coming back:

Do:

• Limit your sex partners. And try to avoid sex with people who have multiple sex partners.
• Make sure your partner(s) get treated if you had pubic lice.
• Wash and dry clothing, bedding and towels.
• Finish treatment and check that the crabs are gone before resuming sex.

Don’t:

• Have sex or close physical contact with someone who has crabs.
• Share clothing, bedding or towels with a person who has crabs.
• Use insecticide sprays. They don’t control crabs and can be harmful.
• Try on bathing suits when shopping. If you do try them on, wear underwear.

Can I use pubic lice shampoo preventively?

Perhaps you found out that a sexual partner from the past month got pubic lice. It’s fine to use one of the lice shampoos or creams to be safe.

Will frequent showers prevent pubic lice?

Getting pubic lice has nothing to do with your hygiene. You get pubic lice by having close physical contact with a person who has them.

Outlook / Prognosis

Are pubic lice dangerous?

No, pubic lice won’t cause serious health concerns. Usually, the main problems that the lice cause are itching and discomfort. You may get a bacterial infection if you end up scratching your skin a lot.

Can I get pubic lice more than once?

Yes, you can get crabs again. Take steps to prevent pubic lice, so you don’t get them again.

Living With

When can I resume sex?

Pause your sex life until both you and your partner(s) have finished treatment. Check that the lice have not returned.

What else should I ask my healthcare provider?

If you have pubic lice, ask your provider:

• What pubic lice treatment do you recommend?
• How many times should I do the treatment?
• When can I resume having sex?
• Should I tell my sexual partner(s) that I have pubic lice?
• How can I prevent the lice from coming back?
• Are there any long-term complications from crabs?

A note from Cleveland Clinic

If you have pubic lice, or genital crabs, don’t feel alarmed. While crabs can be annoying and cause discomfort, it’s easy to treat them. Pubic lice won’t cause long-term health problems, either. If you’re not sure you have crabs, talk to your healthcare provider. Pubic lice treatment usually involves special creams or shampoos to destroy the lice. After treatment, make sure to comb any nits (eggs) out of your hair. Wash all clothes, bedding and towels to destroy any lice living there. And suggest to recent sexual partner(s) that they get treated as well.

Pubic lice | UF Health, University of Florida Health

Pubic lice are tiny wingless insects that infect the pubic hair area and lay eggs there. These lice can also be found in armpit hair, eyebrows, mustache, beard, around the anus, and eyelashes (in children).

Alternative Names

Pediculosis – pubic lice; Lice – pubic; Crabs; Pediculosis pubis; Phthirus pubis

Causes

Pubic lice are most commonly spread during sexual activity.

Although not common, pubic lice can spread through contact with objects such as toilet seats, sheets, blankets, or bathing suits (that you may try on at a store).

Animals cannot spread lice to humans.

Other types of lice include:

You are at greater risk for pubic lice if you:

• Have many sexual partners (high incidence in men who have sex with men)
• Have sexual contact with an infected person
• Share bedding or clothing with an infected person

Symptoms

Pubic lice cause itching in the area covered by pubic hair. Itching often gets worse at night. The itching may start soon after getting infected with lice, or it may not start for up to 2 to 4 weeks after contact.

Other symptoms can include:

• Local skin reactions to the bites that cause the skin to turn red or bluish-gray
• Sores in the genital area due to bites and scratching

Crab lice

Exams and Tests

Your health care provider will do an exam to look for:

• The lice
• Small gray-white oval eggs (nits) attached to the hair shafts in the outer genital area
• Scratch marks or signs of a skin infection

Because pubic lice may cause an eye infection in young children, eyelashes should be looked at with a high-powered magnifying glass. Sexual transmission, and potential sexual molestation, should always be considered if pubic lice are found in children.

Adult lice are easy to identify with a special magnifying device called a dermatoscope. Pubic lice are often referred to as “the crabs” because of their appearance.

Teenagers and adults with pubic lice may need to be tested for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Treatment

MEDICINES

Pubic lice are often treated with medicines that contain a substance called permethrin. To use this medicine:

• Thoroughly work the medicine into your pubic hair and surrounding area. Leave it on for at least 5 to 10 minutes, or as directed by your provider.
• Rinse well.
• Comb your pubic hair with a fine-toothed comb to remove eggs (nits). Applying vinegar to pubic hair before combing may help loosen the nits.

In case of eyelash infestation, applying soft paraffin three times daily for 1 to 2 weeks may help.

Most people need only one treatment. If a second treatment is needed, it should be done 4 days to 1 week later.

Over-the-counter medicines to treat lice include Rid, Nix, LiceMD, among others. Malathion lotion is another option.

Sexual partners should be treated at the same time.

OTHER CARE

While you are treating pubic lice:

• Wash and dry all clothing and bedding in hot water.
• Spray items that cannot be washed with a medicated spray that you can buy at the store. You can also seal items in plastic bags for 10 to 14 days to smother the lice.

Outlook (Prognosis)

The proper treatment, including thorough cleaning, should get rid of the lice.

Scratching can make the skin raw or cause a skin infection.

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Call for an appointment with your provider if:

• You or your sexual partner has symptoms of pubic lice

• You try over-the-counter lice treatments, and they are not effective

• Your symptoms continue after treatment

Prevention

Avoid sexual or intimate contact with people who have pubic lice until they have been treated.

Bathe or shower often and keep your bedding clean. Avoid trying on bathing suits while you are shopping. If you must try on swimwear, be sure to wear your underwear. This may prevent you from getting or spreading pubic lice.

Images

Alternative Names

Pediculosis – pubic lice; Lice – pubic; Crabs; Pediculosis pubis; Phthirus pubis

Causes

Pubic lice are most commonly spread during sexual activity.

Although not common, pubic lice can spread through contact with objects such as toilet seats, sheets, blankets, or bathing suits (that you may try on at a store).

Animals cannot spread lice to humans.

Other types of lice include:

You are at greater risk for pubic lice if you:

• Have many sexual partners (high incidence in men who have sex with men)
• Have sexual contact with an infected person
• Share bedding or clothing with an infected person

Symptoms

Pubic lice cause itching in the area covered by pubic hair. Itching often gets worse at night. The itching may start soon after getting infected with lice, or it may not start for up to 2 to 4 weeks after contact.

Other symptoms can include:

• Local skin reactions to the bites that cause the skin to turn red or bluish-gray
• Sores in the genital area due to bites and scratching

Crab lice

Exams and Tests

Your health care provider will do an exam to look for:

• The lice
• Small gray-white oval eggs (nits) attached to the hair shafts in the outer genital area
• Scratch marks or signs of a skin infection

Because pubic lice may cause an eye infection in young children, eyelashes should be looked at with a high-powered magnifying glass. Sexual transmission, and potential sexual molestation, should always be considered if pubic lice are found in children.

Adult lice are easy to identify with a special magnifying device called a dermatoscope. Pubic lice are often referred to as “the crabs” because of their appearance.

Teenagers and adults with pubic lice may need to be tested for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Treatment

MEDICINES

Pubic lice are often treated with medicines that contain a substance called permethrin. To use this medicine:

• Thoroughly work the medicine into your pubic hair and surrounding area. Leave it on for at least 5 to 10 minutes, or as directed by your provider.
• Rinse well.
• Comb your pubic hair with a fine-toothed comb to remove eggs (nits). Applying vinegar to pubic hair before combing may help loosen the nits.

In case of eyelash infestation, applying soft paraffin three times daily for 1 to 2 weeks may help.

Most people need only one treatment. If a second treatment is needed, it should be done 4 days to 1 week later.

Over-the-counter medicines to treat lice include Rid, Nix, LiceMD, among others. Malathion lotion is another option.

Sexual partners should be treated at the same time.

OTHER CARE

While you are treating pubic lice:

• Wash and dry all clothing and bedding in hot water.
• Spray items that cannot be washed with a medicated spray that you can buy at the store. You can also seal items in plastic bags for 10 to 14 days to smother the lice.

Outlook (Prognosis)

The proper treatment, including thorough cleaning, should get rid of the lice.

Scratching can make the skin raw or cause a skin infection.

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Call for an appointment with your provider if:

• You or your sexual partner has symptoms of pubic lice

• You try over-the-counter lice treatments, and they are not effective

• Your symptoms continue after treatment

Prevention

Avoid sexual or intimate contact with people who have pubic lice until they have been treated.

Bathe or shower often and keep your bedding clean. Avoid trying on bathing suits while you are shopping. If you must try on swimwear, be sure to wear your underwear. This may prevent you from getting or spreading pubic lice.

Images

Pubic lice – Illnesses & conditions

Pubic lice, also known as crabs, are tiny insects (about 2mm long) that infest body hair. They’re spread by close physical contact, including sexual contact.

Pubic lice are not linked to poor personal hygiene.

How do I get pubic lice?

It can take up to three weeks after coming into contact with pubic lice before you notice any symptoms.

They are spread through close body contact with someone who has them.

The lice crawl from hair to hair but can’t fly or jump. They need human blood to survive, so generally only leave the body to move from one person to another.

Pubic lice don’t live on other animals such as cats or dogs.

They’re most commonly passed on during sexual contact and condoms won’t prevent them from being passed to another person.

It’s also possible for pubic lice to be spread through sharing clothes, towels and bedding.

Symptoms of pubic lice

The most common symptom of pubic lice is itchy red spots. The itching is caused by an allergy to the louse saliva or poo.

It can take one to three weeks for itching to develop after the first infestation, and it will usually be worse at night.

Adult pubic lice are tiny – smaller than a match head. They’re grey-brown in colour and have six legs. The two pairs of back legs are much larger and look like the pincer claws of a crab. They use these to grasp onto your hair.

Pubic lice eggs are tiny, yellow-white ovals, which are stuck firmly to the base of your hairs.

You may also notice the following symptoms:

• Dark brown or black powder on your skin or in your underwear (this is louse droppings)
• Blue spots on your skin where the lice have infested, particularly on your thighs and lower stomach, caused by bites from the lice
• Specks of blood in your underwear, if you have been scratching a lot
• Nits (empty eggshells) that look like white oval dots attached to the base of your hairs

Testing for pubic lice

If you think you have pubic lice, make an appointment with your GP or local sexual health services.

There is no test for lice, but you may see the lice crawling in your body hair and your GP or sexual health clinic will look for visible evidence of the lice.

Some sexual health clinics can find the lice and look at them under a microscope.

You can also buy treatment over the counter at your local pharmacist although they will not be able to diagnose the infestation.

Treatment for pubic lice

Pubic lice can be treated at home with (insecticidal) lotion or cream that will kill the lice. This will usually need to be applied once and repeated after seven days.

Everyone that you’ve had close body contact with should be treated at the same time. This includes current sexual partners and may include members of your household.

Some pubic lice can be resistant to treatment. Resistance means that the lice will not be affected by a particular treatment. If your symptoms don’t settle, you may need to try more than one type of treatment. Your GP or sexual health clinic can advise you of suitable alternatives if your initial treatment doesn’t appear to have worked.

Pubic lice can also live on the eyelashes or eyebrows. This is because the thickness of these hairs is similar to pubic hair meaning that the lice can successfully grip on. Treatment of lice in the eye area is usually different to elsewhere as certain insecticidal creams or lotions are not safe for use near the eye area. Lice here can be removed with tweezers or Vaseline can be used to suffocate the lice prior to removal.

Avoiding passing on pubic lice to partners

If you or your partner has pubic lice, avoid having sex (vaginal, anal or oral) or close bodily contact until you both have finished the course of treatment, including any follow-up treatment.

This is to avoid re-infection or passing the infection on to someone else.

Reducing the risk of pubic lice

Pubic lice are easily spread, and condoms don’t protect against them.

The only thing that can reduce your risk of getting pubic lice is limiting the number of people with whom you have intimate or sexual contact.

Other STI’s

If you have pubic lice it’s recommended you are tested for other STI’s including:

Novel crab predator causes marine ecosystem regime shift

4.

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Pubic lice and scabies | aidsmap

Key points

• Pubic lice and scabies are easily treated.
• Your GP or staff at a sexual health clinic can diagnose pubic lice or scabies.
• Pubic lice and scabies are passed on through skin-to-skin contact.

Pubic lice (also called crabs) and scabies are parasites, easily passed on through close body or sexual contact. They are common among sexually active men and women, gay and straight, and children can get them through close bodily contact. They are easily treated.

Pubic lice

Pubic lice are small parasitic insects, resembling crabs because of their claws. They usually live in coarse body hair, such as pubic hair (body hair near the genitals and anus), but can also be found in underarm, leg or body hair or – very rarely – in eyebrows and eyelashes. They do not live in head hair and are different to head lice. Their eggs (nits) look like small brown dots attached to the hair.

Pubic lice are spread through close body contact, usually during sex, but other intimate or close bodily contact can pass them on. You cannot prevent their spread by using condoms. It is possible, but rare, to get pubic lice from sharing infected towels, bedding or clothing. 

Symptoms usually include an intense itching in the groin, especially at night. Some people notice the lice eggs firmly attached to pubic hair. Small spots of blood or black powder may appear on skin, underwear or sheets. Long-standing pubic lice infestations can make you feel generally unwell.

Your GP or staff at a sexual health clinic will be able to diagnose public lice. They may use a magnifying glass to look for lice or signs of lice, such as their eggs.

Scabies

Scabies is a skin disease caused by a mite that burrows under the skin. It causes intense itching, particularly at night or after a hot bath or shower. The mites are invisible to the naked eye, but can cause a red, blotchy rash and silvery lines, like tracks, on the skin where the mites have burrowed. The rash can appear anywhere on the body, but most commonly appears on the hands and feet (between the fingers and toes), the genital area (in men), the nipples (in women), wrists, elbows, stomach and buttocks. In elderly people, young children and people with a weakened immune system, such as people with a low CD4 cell count, it can also appear on the head and neck. If the rash is scratched, it can become irritated, bleed or turn into crusty sores.

Glossary

rash

A rash is an area of irritated or swollen skin, affecting its colour, appearance, or texture. It may be localised in one part of the body or affect all the skin. Rashes are usually caused by inflammation of the skin, which can have many causes, including an allergic reaction to a medicine.

symptom

Any perceptible, subjective change in the body or its functions that signals the presence of a disease or condition, as reported by the patient.

immune system

The body’s mechanisms for fighting infections and eradicating dysfunctional cells.

CD4 cell count

A test that measures the number of CD4 cells in the blood, thus reflecting the state of the immune system. The CD4 cell count of a person who does not have HIV can be anything between 500 and 1500. When the CD4 count of an adult falls below 200, there is a high risk of opportunistic infections and serious illnesses.

effectiveness

How well something works (in real life conditions). See also ‘efficacy’.

Scabies is passed on through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact. It can also be spread by sharing clothes, towels or bedding with someone who has scabies.

It takes about three to six weeks for symptoms to appear after infection (the incubation period). If you have had scabies before, symptoms will start much sooner if you become infected again. You can pass on scabies during the incubation period, before you know you have scabies.

Your GP can usually diagnose scabies by looking at the rash. They may do some tests to rule out other skin conditions such as eczema. If you, or a partner, have genital scabies, you could also go to a sexual health clinic for diagnosis and treatment.

Treatment of pubic lice and scabies

You can treat pubic lice at home using an insecticide lotion, available from chemists without prescription or from your GP or a sexual health clinic. The doctor or pharmacist will recommend the best treatment for you. Follow instructions for use, leaving the lotion on for the recommended time. You may need to use the treatment a second time, a week later, to make sure you have cleared the infestation.

Other people in your household should also be treated, as should any partners or anyone you have had intimate contact with, such as sharing a bed. Do not have sex or close body contact until you have been successfully treated.

Insecticide lotions are also effective against scabies. You apply them to your whole body (except your head) and leave them overnight, rinsing them off after 8 to 24 hours. Follow the instructions for applying the treatment carefully. You may need to do a second treatment a week later.

“Although they feed on blood, pubic lice and scabies mites cannot pass on HIV.”

The itching may continue for a few weeks after treatment. Hydrocortisone cream, calamine lotion or antihistamines can help with this. Try not to scratch, as this can result in a secondary skin infection. If this happens, you may need antibiotic treatment. If left untreated, scabies can cause severe skin irritation.

For both pubic lice and scabies, wash all clothes, towels and bedding you have used on a hot cycle (50°C or higher) when you start treatment. If there are items that can’t be washed, put them in an airtight bag for three days.

In cases of crusted scabies (see below), clean the floors at home and vacuum your carpets and furniture such as sofas and armchairs.

Complications

There is a more severe form of scabies called crusted scabies (also known as Norwegian scabies). People with a weakened immune system (with a low CD4 cell count) may be more at risk of this complication, as your immune system may not be able to limit the mites reproducing.

Crusted scabies can affect the whole body including the head and nails. The flaky rash can look like the skin condition psoriasis and, unlike standard scabies, does not itch. 

Crusted scabies can be treated with an insecticide taken orally (as a tablet), called ivermectin, alongside a cream.

This form of scabies is very contagious, so even minimal physical contact with others, or with infested bedding, towels or clothing, can pass it on.

Other health concerns

If you think you picked up pubic lice or scabies from sexual contact, consider having a full sexual health check-up to check for other sexually transmitted infections.

Although they feed on blood, pubic lice and scabies mites cannot pass on HIV.

Shellfish Allergy | Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Once a shellfish allergy is identified, the best management is to avoid the food. You need to carefully check ingredient labels of food products. You should learn other names for the foods you need to avoid to be sure not to eat them.

You must be extra-careful when you eat out. Waiters (and sometimes the kitchen staff) may not always know every dish’s ingredient list. Vapors may carry small particles of shellfish protein, so being close to where food is being prepared can potentially cause a dangerous reaction in sensitive individuals.

Fortunately, shellfish is an ingredient that is rarely “hidden” in foods. Shellfish may be found in fish stock, seafood flavoring (for example, crab extract), sushi and surimi. Crustacean shellfish is one of the eight allergens that fall under the labeling requirements of the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004. This means that manufacturers of packaged food items sold in the United States and containing crustacean shellfish or a crustacean shellfish-based ingredient must state, in clear language, the presence of crustacean shellfish in the product. (Note: Those regulations apply only to crustacean shellfish, such as shrimp, lobster and crab, and not to mollusks, such as oysters, scallops and clams.)

Anyone with a food allergy must understand how to read ingredient labels and practice avoidance measures. Your allergist can direct you to helpful resources, such as special cookbooks, patient support groups and registered dietitians, who can help you plan your meals.

Many people with food allergies wonder if their condition is permanent. There is no clear-cut answer. Over time, allergies to milk, eggs and soy may disappear. Allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish typically last a lifetime. About one-third of children and adults with a food allergy eventually outgrow the allergy. But rates of naturally outgrowing food allergies will vary depending on the specific food allergen and the person.

Managing a severe food reaction with epinephrine

Shellfish is among the most common food allergens. But all food allergies can be dangerous.

Epinephrine is the first-line treatment for anaphylaxis, a severe whole-body allergic reaction that causes symptoms, including tightening of the airway. Anaphylaxis can occur within seconds or minutes of exposure to the allergen, can worsen quickly, and can be deadly.

Once a food allergy diagnosis is made, your allergist likely will prescribe an epinephrine auto-injector and teach you how to use it. Check the expiration date of your auto-injector, note the expiration date on your calendar and ask your pharmacy about reminder services for prescription renewals.

Be sure to have two doses available, as the severe reaction may recur. Epinephrine should be used immediately if you experience severe symptoms such as shortness of breath, repetitive coughing, weak pulse, generalized hives, tightness in the throat, trouble breathing or swallowing, or a combination of symptoms from different body areas such as hives, rashes or swelling on the skin coupled with vomiting, diarrhea or abdominal pain. Repeated doses of epinephrine may be necessary.

If you are uncertain whether a reaction requires epinephrine, use it right away, because the benefits of epinephrine far outweigh the risk that a dose may not have been necessary.

Common side effects of epinephrine may include temporary anxiety, restlessness, dizziness and shakiness. Rarely, the medication can lead to an abnormal heart rate or rhythm, a heart attack, a sharp increase in blood pressure and fluid buildup in the lungs, but these adverse effects are generally caused by errors in dosing which is unlikely to occur with use of epinephrine autoinjectors. Some people with certain pre-existing conditions might be at higher risk for adverse effects and should speak to their allergist about epinephrine use.

Your allergist will provide you with a written emergency treatment plan that outlines which medications should be administered and when (note that between 10 and 20 percent of life-threatening severe allergic reactions have no skin symptoms). Be sure you understand how to properly and promptly use an epinephrine auto-injector.

Once you have used your epinephrine auto-injector, immediately call 911 and tell the dispatcher that you used epinephrine and that more may be needed from the emergency responders.

Other medications, such as antihistamine and corticosteroids, may be prescribed to treat mild symptoms of a food allergy, but it is important to note that there is no substitute for epinephrine — this is the only medication that can reverse the life-threatening symptoms of anaphylaxis.

Managing shellfish allergies in children

Because shellfish allergy reactions, like other food allergy symptoms, can develop when a child is not with his or her parents, parents need to make sure that their child’s school, day care or other program has a written emergency action plan with instructions on preventing, recognizing and managing these episodes in class and during activities such as sporting events and field trips.

If your child has been prescribed an auto-injector, be sure that you and those responsible for supervising your child understand how to use it.

This page was reviewed and updated as of 2/13/2019.

Pacific Ocean’s rising acidity causes Dungeness crabs’ shells to dissolve | Oceans

The Pacific Ocean is becoming so acidic it is starting to dissolve the shells of a key species of crab, according to a new US study.

Scientists found that the Dungeness crab, one of the most valuable species for recreational and commercial fisheries, is starting to weaken as its larvae are affected by rising ocean acidity.

The study was published in the Science of the Total Environment academic journal and funded by the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It found that acidity is affecting the shells of crab larvae, making them more vulnerable to predators and limiting shell effectiveness in supporting the growth of muscles.

Lower pH levels have also helped destabilize the larvae’s mechanoreceptors, increasing the possibility of loss of important sensory and behavioral functions.

The effect of acidity on adult Dungeness crabs is still unknown. The researchers hypothesized that “aberrant behavioral patterns found across various crustacean species … such as slower movement, less tactile, prolonged searching time, as well as impaired swimming” could be due to increased acidity.

Ocean acidity is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels. As carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, the gas dissolves into ocean water, producing weak carbonic acid.

Since the industrial revolution, the average pH of the ocean has fallen from 8.2 to 8.1, which corresponds to an increase in acidity of about 26%. Scientists and activists have long warned about ocean acidity and its harm to marine life.

Given that crustaceans play an important role in the marine ecosystem, the weakening of crustacean species could be devastating.

Another study published this month found that microplastics are affecting the reproduction of sand crabs, which eat by filtering small particles from sand. Sand crabs are themselves prey for seabirds, fish and marine mammals.

90,000 Allergies to shellfish and fish

Allergies to shellfish and fish are more common in adults and adolescents than in young children. A recent study found that one in every 100 people are allergic to seafood. Types of seafood that can cause allergies include scaly fish and shellfish, including shellfish (such as oysters, mussels, and squid) and crustaceans (such as shrimp, crayfish, and lobster).
Symptoms of a fish or shellfish allergy range from mild reactions to anaphylaxis.The most common symptom is red bumps on the skin (hives). Other symptoms include shortness of breath and trouble breathing, seizures, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. The best way to deal with shellfish or fish allergies is to avoid all foods that contain the species you are allergic to.
Food allergies can be life-threatening.

Symptoms

Everyone’s immune system is different, and allergies to shellfish and fish can cause symptoms ranging from mild to severe.Many food allergies do not cause severe symptoms, but they can be life-threatening in some people and should be taken seriously.
Fish and shellfish allergies can occur after eating seafood, but you may also have symptoms after touching seafood or inhaling shellfish or fish fumes when they are being prepared or processed in the factory.

More than mild allergic symptoms that may occur:
• red spots on the skin;
• swelling of the lips;
• tingling in the throat and mouth;
• itchy skin and rash;
• runny nose;
• constriction of the throat;
• digestive symptoms – cramps, abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting.

If you or your child experience any of these symptoms after eating fish or shellfish, the risk of a severe reaction after eating such food is higher than usual. Ask your doctor to refer you to a healthcare professional, such as an allergist or clinical immunologist.
Diagnosing fish allergies can be difficult. If you think you or your child may have a similar allergy, keeping a symptom record can help you and your doctor understand exactly what is causing it.

Symptoms of a severe allergic reaction :
• labored or noisy breathing;
• swelling of the tongue;
• swelling or constriction of the throat;
• hoarse voice;
• wheezing or violent cough;
• persistent dizziness or collapse;
• pallor and flexibility in young children.

Reasons

In all allergies, the immune system reacts to specific allergy triggers (allergens). Your immune system makes antibodies that detect the allergen and trigger inflammatory reactions and the release of a chemical called histamine.Histamine causes hives, hay fever, and other allergic symptoms.
The particular allergy-causing molecule in shellfish or fish may be present in a variety of foods, and then you may have an allergic reaction to all foods containing this molecule. Some people who are allergic to one type of fish may be allergic to another type of fish, or they may be allergic to several crustaceans such as shrimp, crab, and lobster. This condition is known as cross-reactivity.Talk to your doctor about cross-reactivity because it is difficult to predict.

The list of fish that can cause an allergic reaction is quite long, here are the most common types:
• barramundi;
• cod;
• salmon;
• bottom grab;
• trout;
• tuna;
• whitewash.

List of molluscs (including molluscs and crustaceans) that may cause allergic reactions:
• squid;
• cancer;
• cuttlefish;
• lobster;
• mussels;
• oysters;
• shrimps.

Diagnostics

If you have allergic symptoms, contact your family doctor who will ask a few questions about your allergic reactions. You can also discuss your symptom notes.
Allergists can test you for allergies using a variety of methods depending on the type of potential allergy. To test for shellfish or fish allergies, an allergist can:
• do a prick test;
• Get a blood test.

Unverified allergy testing methods

A number of methods claim to test for allergies, but have not been proven medically or scientifically.They can be costly and can lead to dangerous consequences. These methods are:
• testing of cytotoxic food;
• electrodermal testing;
• hair analysis;
• iridology;
• kinesiology;
• impulse testing;
• reflexology;
• vega testing.

Treatment

The only current treatment for food allergies is to avoid food that causes the allergy. Even if you are careful, it is difficult to avoid contact with certain foods.
To help avoid food, people with food allergies should learn to read food labels.
Inaccurate diagnosis can lead to costly and ineffective treatments and unnecessary food refusal, which can lead to malnutrition and aversion to food, especially in children. Always talk with your doctor about your food allergy diagnosis and treatment options.

90,000 Allergy: what is it, why does it arise and is it possible to get rid of it forever

According to Rambler & Co, 64% of Russians experience allergy symptoms every year.What kind of disease is it, how does it arise and is it possible to get rid of it once and for all?

⏰ Reading time: 10-12 minutes

What happened

Rambler & Co conducted a user survey on allergies. The poll was conducted on the Rambler portal from June 17 to June 21, 2021, almost 500 thousand users took part in it, of which 40% were men and 60% were women. It turned out that almost two-thirds of Russians – 64% of respondents – experience allergic symptoms in one way or another.

Prevalence of the main allergy symptoms in Russia:

• 52% – runny nose, sneezing and itching in the nose;
• 25% and 13% – watery and itchy eyes / discomfort in the throat;
• 7% and 3% report sleep disturbances / feel weak.

Exacerbation of the disease usually occurs in the spring and summer. Hardest month for respondents:

• May – in 33% of cases,
• June – 28% of respondents,
• August – at 10%,
• March, April, July, September – from 5% to 9% of cases.

How Russians are saved from allergies:

• 62% take antihistamines and other medications,
• 14% use folk remedies,
• 13% hide at home and go out for walks less often,
• 4% of Russians each wear goggles with a protective mask on the street, or leave the city for the period of exacerbation,
• 3% self-insulate houses with closed windows.

Allergy Treatment Expenditure Budget:

• do not spend a single ruble and endure the exacerbation on their own – 24%,
• spend up to ₽500 per month – 30%,
• spend on treatment per month from ₽500 to ₽1 thousand.- 21%,
• spend from ₽1 thousand to ₽2 thousand per month – 12%,
• spend from ₽2 thousand to ₽5 thousand per month – 6%,
• spend over 5 thousand rubles a month on allergy treatment – 7% of Russians surveyed.

What does it mean

What is an allergy?

Four out of ten people working in offices suffer from allergies caused by an unhealthy work environment. Such data were obtained by British specialists from the British Allergy Foundation in the course of a recent study.

• Allergy is the reaction of the immune system to a substance that normally does not pose a danger. In case of allergies, the immune system perceives it as an aggressor and produces antibodies – this causes the symptoms of the disease. But sometimes it happens that the symptoms appear on other substances similar in structure to the allergen. This is how cross-allergy develops.
• Cross-allergy is a type of allergy in which a reaction is caused, for example, by eating a fruit.In this case, the allergy will not be to the fruit, but to the antigen that this fruit has in common, for example, with a tree. That is, if you are allergic to birch, then when you eat an apple, itching, sneezing will appear and may stuff your nose, as if there is a birch nearby. At the same time, there is no allergy directly to the apple.

Symptoms and complications of allergy:

According to WHO estimates, 339 million people suffer from asthma. Asthma attacks are provoked by: plant pollen; animal hair; mold spores; house dust; some food products; substances with pungent odors (perfumes, household chemicals).Smoke and cold air also act as irritants.

Types of allergens

• Mold . Wet, warm places are the ideal habitat for the fungus. The kitchen, cellars, bathroom and cellar require special monitoring for allergens.
• Dust. Reactions can range from sneezing to chronic rhinitis and even asthma or eczema
• Pets . Potential allergens include animal hair, secretions and saliva.The most common allergen is saliva protein (not wool, as is commonly believed). Cats love to lick themselves, and this is how allergenic proteins from saliva get onto the coat. Accordingly, the more wool, the faster and more easily allergens spread throughout the house. By the way, in the spring of 2021, trials of a vaccine for the prevention of cat allergies began in Russia.
• Cockroaches.
• Nickel. Nickel is actively used in the production of bijouterie, clothing, mobile phones and household tools.Note that itching is a common symptom of metal allergy.
• Sulphates . They are used in the production of soap, glass, sulphate cellulose, leather products, non-ferrous metals and for dyeing cotton textiles.
• Formaldehyde. Exhaust gases, household chemicals, tobacco smoke are not just harmful chemical components of the environment. It is also a potential threat to allergy sufferers. They cause chronic dermatitis, digestive problems and migraines in sensitive individuals.
• Penicillin. Prescribing antibiotics is possible only after excluding allergy to penicillin components.
• Latex . Medical gloves and condoms are made from this material. The main symptom of latex allergy is a rash or shortness of breath after contact with an irritant.
• Pollen . People suffering from hay fever, when inhaling pollen, get a whole set of unpleasant symptoms: redness of the eyes, sneezing, watery eyes, rhinitis, and so on.A neglected disease leads to bronchial asthma.
• Insects . An insect bite is associated with the risk of severe laryngeal edema, difficulty breathing.
• Smog . Air poisoned by exhaust gases, household waste and industrial emissions is a dangerous allergen. Most people die from air pollution in China and India. About 1.8 million St. Petersburgers fall ill every year due to toxic dust.
• Milk .Regular cow’s milk often causes allergies in children under 3 years of age. This happens more often in boys. Intolerance manifests itself in the form of a rash and gastrointestinal disorders. Adults also suffer from allergies to dairy products, and this ailment forces them to abandon fermented milk products, yoghurts and cheeses.
• Seafood . Blacklisted: salmon, lobster, oysters, crabs, trout, cod, caviar. Less commonly, scaly fish cause intolerance. Allergy to fish products does not go away with age.The ailment manifested in childhood can continue into adulthood.
• Peanuts.
• Egg white. With age, egg white intolerance disappears in most people. Egg white is added to many foods, cosmetics, and medicines.
• Cereals . An allergenic component of wheat, rye and barley is the protein gliadin.
• Citrus . Profilin or chemicals used to treat citrus fruits.
• Spices and herbs . Garlic and cinnamon top the list of allergens in this category.

Often allergens that are not indicated on the packaging often get into ready-made meals. Soon this problem will be solved with food from a bioprinter. For example, a device from Nima can find traces of peanuts or gluten.

Here are the statistics on the prevalence of food allergy according to a study from The New England Journal of Medicine:

• About 85% of children eventually outgrow allergies to milk, eggs, wheat, and soy. Children who are allergic to insect bites may not have allergic reactions as adults. Allergies to pollen and pet dander become less severe with age.
• Only 15–20% of children are allergic to peanuts, hazelnuts, shellfish, fish.

Many people postpone a visit to the doctor for three years or more. In worst case scenarios, this can lead to complications in the body, such as bronchial asthma. To prevent this, allergist-immunologist Elena Bobrikova urges citizens to take antihistamines that have anti-inflammatory effects.She also advised Muscovites to enter information about their allergies in the electronic medical record in advance, so that when providing emergency medical care, doctors are aware of the restrictions on taking medications. It is best to leave for a while in a different climatic zone in case of a seasonal manifestation of the disease.

How does allergy occur?

Allergic asthma can develop for various reasons.

• Complicated heredity – if one of the parents is sick with asthma, then the probability of developing it in a child is about 20-30%.If both the father and the mother have the disease, then the child will face asthma with a 70% probability.
• Reduction of the period of breastfeeding of infants , as well as an increase in the number of children in the first year of life who are artificially fed practically from the moment of birth.
• Smoking, including passive smoking. Parents who smoke significantly increase the likelihood of developing allergic bronchial asthma in their child.

How do I know what I’m allergic to?

It’s worth noting that you can live with allergies without knowing it.And then it can suddenly appear. So in December 2020, it happened to one physician from New York who was vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19.

Allergy tests required:

• blood test for immunoglobulin E;
• blood test for immunoglobulin G;
• skin tests;
• application and elimination tests.

Recommendations for passing tests:

• it is not advisable to be tested for allergies in acute health conditions (fever, viral infections, gastrointestinal diseases in the acute stage, and others).Immediately three to five days before the study, all foods with high allergenicity should be excluded from the diet.
• Skin scarification allergy tests (popularly referred to as “scratches”) should only be performed on children over 3 years old (since the diagnosis is rather difficult to convince a two- or three-year-old child to sit for at least 20 minutes without twitching).

Allergy vaccines

• The Institute of Immunology, together with the Vienna Medical University, has created a vaccine against birch pollen allergy.The drug will also be effective in treating cross-allergies to apples, certain types of nuts (including walnuts) and peanuts.
• German scientists have discovered a new way to treat eczema. To get rid of this unpleasant disease, you just need to wear special clothes covered with a thin layer of silver.
• Trials of a vaccine to prevent cat allergies have begun in Russia.
• Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) involves the introduction of small doses of the causative allergen, which causes a reaction in the body.It can be pollen of plants (trees, grasses), mite allergens, house dust. Treatment is carried out according to an individual program according to a year-round scheme or a preseasonal-seasonal **. ** The Russian MHI policy makes it possible to undergo ASIT free of charge. This requires the appointment of an allergist.
• From what age is ASIT performed: In Russia, all instructions for a drug called an allergen indicate the age of five years and older.

Is it possible to get rid of allergies permanently?

No.He has not yet come up with a full-fledged medicine for getting rid of allergies. But first, there are over-the-counter and prescription drugs that can relieve symptoms.

Second, a person may develop tolerance over time when exposed to small amounts of the allergen. This is similar to how vaccines and allergy shots work.

How quickly does the allergy go away after eliminating the allergen?

• The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) states that the time from the onset of an allergic reaction to its disappearance can take 14-28 days, even with treatment (depending on the type of reaction).
• Allergic rash: lasts less than six weeks and is classified as acute. If an allergic rash lasts more than six weeks, then it is classified as chronic.
• Food allergy: manifests itself within a few minutes or a couple of hours after eating food. Symptoms can persist for several days, and sometimes weeks.

Scientists from St. Petersburg State University have found out how crustaceans turn their fellows into zombies

Research results published in Scientific Reports.

“When it comes to crustaceans, people usually imagine crayfish or shrimps,” explains Alexey Mirolyubov, lead author of the article, a researcher at St. Petersburg State University. – In fact, there are a huge number of them, including a large number of parasitic forms. We studied rhizomed crustaceans – relatives of sea ducks and sea acorns, which are completely different from ordinary crayfish. They live inside other crustaceans, so their body looks more like a kind of washcloth that permeates the entire body of the owner, including his nervous system. “

As the scientist notes, it is root-headed crustaceans that are possibly one of the most advanced parasites on the planet. Researchers have studied two species – the White Sea Peltogaster paguri and the Far Eastern Peltogasterella gracilis – and found that they are capable of forming a parasite-host interface: in the brain of the “victim” there appears practically a “flight control center” – a goblet organ, which, as scientists assume, secretes into the nervous tissue is a substance that helps control the host.

Sometimes these parasites occupy up to 50% of the host’s nervous tissue – this is a very large volume.In this case, the owner does not lose any vital functions. Most often, parasites destroy something in the host’s body in order to cause certain changes in behavior. These same species act very gently and subtly, literally subjugating the will of the owner.

Researcher of St. Petersburg State University Alexey Mirolyubov

“It is known that crabs and hermit crabs are subject to ‘zombification’: the parasite makes them (and even males) behave like pregnant females,” explained Alexey Mirolyubov.- The fact is that in the place where crabs usually hatch eggs, there is the reproductive system of the parasite – its own eggs. To keep it safe, the parasite “convinces” the host to take care of its own eggs, be less aggressive and eat well. We assume that he is able to change the composition of neurotransmitters (substances through which nerve impulses are transmitted) in the host’s nervous system. For example, it is known that an increase in the amount of serotonin in animals is precisely associated with an increase in appetite and a decrease in aggression. “

This work was supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research No. 18-34-00727 \ 18.

The next question, which the researchers will try to find answers to, is related to how exactly the parasite manages to overcome the ganglion membrane, which protects the nerve tissue. In addition, the root-headed crustacean somehow causes the host’s peripheral nerve fibers to literally grow around its own body. This is an amazing phenomenon, scientists say, because in nature there are rarely examples of the appearance of neoplasms in the nervous tissue of adult animals.The study of these mechanisms in the future, possibly, will allow us to understand how it is possible to restore the nervous tissue in the human body.

The studies were carried out using the equipment of the resource centers of the Science Park of St. Petersburg State University “Center for Microscopy and Microanalysis”, “Chromas”, as well as “Development of Molecular and Cellular Technologies”.

90,000 “Millions are deprived of the opportunity to eat crabs” | Articles

The scandal continues to flare up over the appearance on the Web of photographs of a member of the so-called Tsapkov gang Vyacheslav Tsepovyaz.In the pictures, allegedly taken in a correctional institution, he eats crabs, red caviar and kebabs. Yesterday, the official representative of the RF State Prosecutor’s Office, Aleksandr Kurennoy, announced that the prosecutor’s office is demanding to initiate a criminal case against officials of the colony No. 3 in the Amur Region, where a member of the gang is serving his sentence. Tsepovyaz’s lawyer, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2013, said he plans to sue for libel. Mikhail Fedotov, Chairman of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, told Izvestia how this story can affect the situation in the FSIN system and why there are still “black” zones and prisons in the country.

– How did the HRC react to the appearance of pictures with barbecue and caviar? How typical is this situation for our colonies?

– These photos do not cause anything but indignation. This is a natural reaction. A person convicted of an especially grave crime is serving a sentence in a strict regime colony. How many times have I been to the maximum security colonies, but never seen such a feast held there. It is important that in a colony of any regime, in relation to any prisoner, the rules established for this category of UIS institutions are uniformly observed.There are regulations that determine what products can be sent in parcels, lists of products that can be ordered and bought in a stall in the colony. I personally have not seen in any such stall neither caviar, nor crabs, nor fresh meat from which you can make a shish kebab. Perhaps this is bad, I am ready to admit that these goods are needed in the stalls too, but in the numerous colonies I have visited, I am afraid they would not be in demand. Everything should be according to the law and nothing else.

– It seems to me that more indignation should not be caused by caviar and barbecue in the colony, but by the fact that all this was filmed on a mobile phone.

– Yes. What worries me most about this story is that the feast was filmed on a cell phone. Moreover, there are shots in which the convict is talking on his mobile. This is not only a gross, but also a demonstrative violation of internal regulations and current legislation. In a correctional institution, neither the convict nor the employee can have a mobile phone. If a convict has a mobile communication device, it did not fly there by air, but someone carried him there.And this is already a crime. The Federal Penitentiary Service and the Prosecutor’s Office are right to conduct an inspection on this case. I’d like to know its results, we in the council will follow it with great interest.

– How do such incidents affect society from a moral point of view?

– It is very good that this story has become public. The outrage and shame she has generated is very helpful. Society needs to constantly train its conscience, otherwise it falls asleep, becomes sugar-coated.

– Now the lawyer of Vyacheslav Tsepovyaz Elbrus Murtazov says that nothing like this happened and he intends to file a libel suit.

– In the era of fake news, it cannot be ruled out that it was a computer “photo toad”. I am sure that the prosecutor’s office and the Federal Penitentiary Service will check this. But in any case, moral gymnastics, moral shake-ups are useful for our society. And, in my opinion, our society passed this test quite successfully.

– The reaction was not unambiguous for everyone.For example, human rights activist and HRC member Andrei Babushkin said that he sees nothing wrong with the fact that the convicts eat well.

– He is also right in his own way. Moreover, I think our media took his words out of context, and as a result, their meaning changed. It is obvious to me that punishment does not have the task of subjecting the convicted person to suffering and humiliation. There are tasks of re-educating the convicted person, isolating him from society. Millions of people in our country are deprived of the opportunity to eat barbecue, caviar and crabs, even in freedom.But this does not mean that the state deliberately inflicts suffering on them.

– Is there a need for private prisons, in which conditions of detention will be softer and more comfortable?

– Private prisons can be effective. But the conditions in them should be exactly the same as in any other prison, because the conditions for serving the sentence are determined by the law and the court, and not by the institution for the execution of the sentence. The institution of the UIS itself cannot make the conditions more stringent or more comfortable, if this is not provided for by law.The meaning of a private prison can only be that the state attracts the resources of social entrepreneurship to perform one of the functions of public authority. For the state, it can certainly be cheaper. This is quite a possible thing, but you need to see how it will work in practice.

– Will “ Crab Scandal” be a useful lesson for the governors of prisons and colonies? After all, if this happened in Colony No. 3 in the Amur Region, then surely it is happening in others as well?

– It’s no secret that we have “black” colonies, where the rules of life are determined not by the administration, but by criminals.This “legacy of the accursed past” has gone to the current leadership of the Federal Penitentiary Service, and it is trying to fight it. But it is very difficult to destroy such a legacy. It is generally difficult to put things in order, and it is ten times more difficult to introduce real legality in the criminal environment.

If these photos do not turn out to be fake (which cannot be ruled out), this will be a good lesson for the entire penal system.

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CURRENT STATE OF STOCK AND FISHING OF KAMCHATKA CRAB PARALITHODES CAMTSCHATICUS AT WESTERN KAMCHATKA | Ivanov

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Foodborne trematodes

Parasite transmission and the burden of invasions

Foodborne trematodes are zoonoses, and their pathogens can only be transmitted to humans after a complex life cycle, some stages of which occur in the body of an intermediate animal host.

Freshwater snails are the first intermediate hosts of all trematode species. The second host is different depending on the species: in the case of clonorchiasis and opisthorchiasis, these are freshwater fish, and in the case of paragonimiasis, crustaceans. Infection with the paragonimiasis pathogen can also occur as a result of the consumption of animals that feed on crustaceans, for example, raw wild boar meat. In the case of fascioliasis, a second intermediate host is not required and human infection can occur by consuming larval freshwater plants.The final hosts of the parasite are always mammals (see table 1).

Human infection occurs when a second intermediate host infested with the parasite is consumed or, in the case of fascioliasis, aquatic vegetation to which the parasite larva attaches.

Clonorchiasis and opisthorchiasis are mainly found in Asia, where many countries are endemic for these diseases. In a number of hyperendemic rural settlements in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a population incidence rate of O was recorded.viverrini at over 80%. Paragonimiasis occurs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, sometimes in areas that are simultaneously endemic for tuberculosis and trematodes, which often leads to incorrect diagnosis and treatment of the disease and contributes to incomplete case registration. Fascioliasis is ubiquitous and a problem in a significant number of countries around the world, of which the highest disease burden is found in Latin America and the Middle East. Although cases of foodborne trematodes have been reported in more than 70 countries around the world, data on their actual prevalence are very limited; a particularly acute shortage of epidemiological data exists in African countries.

Within countries, the transmission of invasions often occurs within the boundaries of certain foci and is associated with the habits of the population and the characteristics of local ecosystems. The risk of infection can be increased by inadequate sanitation and nutritional hygiene, limited availability of safe drinking water and certain culturally influenced dietary preferences. Co-eating habits can contribute to the formation of clusters of infection in families or among acquaintances.

The true burden of these invasions is unclear because the populations they affect often know little about them and may not always be able to seek medical attention. Calculations carried out by the WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (2015) identified four foodborne fluke species that are significant causes of disability and are estimated to cause a total of 200,000 cases or more each year. 7,000 deaths, resulting in the loss of more than 2 million disability-adjusted life years worldwide.

Foodborne trematodes also cause significant economic damage to livestock and fish farming as a result of reduced animal productivity, as well as the introduction of export restrictions and reduced consumer demand.

Table 1. Epidemiological characteristics of foodborne trematodes

Symptoms

Public health burden of foodborne trematodes rather than morbidity In this case, early and mild infestations often go unnoticed.Chronic invasions, as a rule, are accompanied by severe symptoms affecting a specific organ in which adult helminths are localized.

Light invasion Opisthorchis spp and Clonorchis sinensis may be asymptomatic in the acute phase, however, with a high parasitic load due to obstruction of the bile ducts by helminths, clinical manifestations such as fever and pain in the upper right abdomen can be observed. The most severe can be chronic invasion of O.viverrini and C. sinensis , caused by prolonged episodes of re-infection, when chronic inflammation leads to fibrosis of the bile ducts and damage to the adjacent hepatic parenchyma. These pathological changes can lead to the development of cholangiocarcinoma, a severe and often fatal form of bile duct cancer. For this reason, both O. viverrini and C. sinensis are recognized as carcinogens.The available data on chronic invasions of by O. felineus are insufficient for this parasite to be classified as a carcinogen.

Fascioliasis occurs as an asymptomatic acute period after the parasite enters the body, followed by an acute period and a chronic phase of the disease. The acute period of infection with fascioli begins when young flukes destroy the tissue of the intestinal walls and peritoneum and their introduction through the liver membrane into the bile ducts. This process is accompanied by the destruction of liver cells and leads to internal bleeding.Symptoms may include fever, nausea, enlarged liver, hives, and severe abdominal pain. The chronic phase of the disease begins when helminths enter the bile ducts, reach sexual maturity and begin to lay eggs. Eggs enter the bile first, then into the intestines and with feces are excreted into the external environment. It can present with symptoms such as recurrent pain, jaundice, anemia, pancreatitis, and gallstone disease. Due to chronic inflammatory tissue damage, chronic invasions lead to cirrhosis of the liver.

Paragonimiasis in the early stages may be asymptomatic. After the parasite enters the lungs, the disease can be accompanied by severe clinical manifestations, in particular, a persistent cough with the release of blood-stained sputum, chest pain, shortness of breath and fever, which can lead to complications such as pleural effusion and pneumothorax. Symptoms and manifestations of the disease can be confused with tuberculosis, and this should be taken into account in the absence of improvement in the treatment of patients with suspected tuberculosis.Ectopic paragonimiasis is also quite common, the most common form of which is cerebral paragonimiasis. Its clinical manifestations can be headache, blurred vision, epileptic seizures, and cerebral hemorrhage.

Diagnostics

Cases with suspected foodborne trematodes are identified on the basis of clinical analysis, assessment of food history for risk factors (eating raw fish, crustaceans that have not undergone heat treatment of aquatic plants), the presence of eosionophilia and characteristic changes visible when performing ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Various diagnostic methods are used to confirm the diagnosis.

• Parasitological methods for detecting eggs in stool samples with suspected clonorchiasis, opisthorchiasis and fascioliasis and direct microscopic examination of sputum smears with suspected paragonimiasis. These methods are used most often and are characterized by low sensitivity in case of light parasitic load, but with the appropriate qualifications of the laboratory assistant, they can obtain an accurate result, although the differentiation of the morphological features of the parasite eggs can be difficult in this case.The Kato-Katz smear test is recommended to be performed twice.
• Immunological methods for detecting parasite-specific antibodies in serum samples or parasite-specific antigens from serum or stool samples. These methods are often more sensitive, but the detection of antibodies does not allow distinguishing between current, recent or past invasions. Cross-reactions with antigens of other flukes are also possible.
• Molecular techniques such as the polymerase chain reaction may prove useful and are currently under experimental development.

Treatment, prevention and control

The control of foodborne trematodes aims to reduce the risk of infection and the associated morbidity. In doing so, a comprehensive health approach should be taken that takes into account the relationship between animal and human health and the environment. To reduce the intensity of transmission and the risk of invasions, a set of measures should be implemented, including awareness-raising and educational work among the population on food safety issues, improvement of sanitary systems and sanitary and veterinary surveillance.

To reduce morbidity, WHO recommends increasing the availability of treatment with safe and effective anthelminthics.

• Treatment of clonorchiasis and opisthorchiasis is carried out with praziquantel at doses of 25 mg / kg three times a day for two to three days in a row or with a single dose of 40 mg / kg.
• Treatment of fascioliasis is carried out with a single dose of triclabendazole 10 mg / kg. In the absence of a therapeutic effect, the dosage can be increased to 20 mg / kg in two divided doses with an interval of 12-24 hours.
• Treatment of paragonimiasis can be carried out with triclabendazole 20 mg / kg in two divided doses of 10 mg / kg given on one day, or with praziquantel 25 mg / kg three times a day for three days. Treatment with triclabendazole is preferred due to the simplicity of this regimen and, accordingly, better adherence to the treatment regimen.

In order to monitor the health status of the population, WHO recommends conducting population surveys at the district level and providing mass chemoprophylaxis to relevant populations in areas with a large number of infected individuals.Providing personalized care by treating patients with confirmed or suspected infestations is appropriate when there is a lower concentration of cases and the availability of health facilities.

Reducing the incidence of invasions can only be achieved by methods of preventive chemotherapy. Factors such as unsanitary conditions and poor food hygiene, the presence of animal reservoirs of parasites and traditional dietary habits of the population can increase the rates of reinfection in the population after treatment.At the same time, mass chemoprophylaxis programs should be carried out within the framework of a broader approach to health care, involving public health education, veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance, ensuring food safety and improving water supply, sanitation and hygiene systems.

Recommended treatment regimens and strategies are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2. Recommended treatment regimens and strategies

as a resident of Skolkovo forms a new direction mariculture

“It’s time for everyone to try how tasty and tender the crabs are.”The Soviet advertising slogan calling for the purchase of canned sea crabs is fully applicable to freshwater crabs, which are practically unknown to Russians from a culinary point of view. “The freshwater shaggy crab has great potential,” says hydrobiologist Sergei Maslennikov, CEO of Marine Biotechnopark

At the recent Startup Village Livestream’20 conference, this Far Eastern resident of the Skolkovo Foundation presented the technology for producing viable fry of Japanese shaggy crab.This is the first project of its kind in the Russian Federation. Moreover, what is important, the industrial cultivation of crab can be established in almost any Russian fish and rice farm, the author of the project assures.

Shaggy-handed crab. Photo courtesy of S. Maslennikov.

Mr. Maslennikov’s interview with Sk.ru was recorded shortly after Startup Village, when the conference participants were still fresh from their impressions. “The free platform for project demonstration offered by the Skolkovo Foundation is very good.I am aware of how much it costs to participate in other similar events. A big plus in our case is that we didn’t have to spend money on tickets to Moscow, ”says Sergei Maslennikov.

His company uses the benefits that the Fund offers to its residents and cooperates with other participants in the Skolkovo project. One of these teams is the Underwater Communications and Navigation Laboratory, the developer of the RedNAV diving navigation receiver. Resident status, according to the interlocutor Sk.ru, helps in reviving regional competitions for small innovative companies, for example, in Primorsky Start, where the participants of the Skolkovo project enjoy some preferences.

It is no coincidence that

Startup Village Livestream’20 became a platform for the presentation of the Far East project. Mr. Maslennikov calls the crab area of ​​activity of the Marine Biotechnopark a real start-up: the project has a powerful scientific and experimental base, the team is at the very beginning of the journey, there has not been any impressive investments yet, although there seems to be interest from customers.

Sergey Maslennikov. Photo: sk.ru

There is also an emerging success story: on the basis of the scientific and experimental site of mariculture of the National Center for Marine Biology named after A.V. Zhirmunsky, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Sergey Maslennikov is a senior researcher of this center), successful experiments were carried out to develop and implement an experimental technology for obtaining fry of Japanese hairy-hand crab.

“Received multiple spawning and viable juveniles of more than 4 thousand specimens, developed a key technology for the production cycle of commercial rearing”.So dryly, the result of this work is described in the reports and presentations that Maslennikov, the candidate of biological sciences, prepares for various instances. In an interview with Sk.ru, the scientist conveys the same thing in a more fun and accessible form: they took females and males and ensured their mating. The females laid eggs, from which larvae emerged after maturation. This is very similar to working with chickens and getting chickens. Only instead of laying hens – female Japanese shaggy-handed crab.

“Before us, they also received juveniles, but on the scale of an aquarium, 5-10 specimens each,” the scientist continues.- We achieved the appearance of four thousand lively viable fry at once and released them to the customer’s lake. The fact is that we knew all the bottlenecks of the process and we had a good groundwork for live feed for feeding the larvae. ”

Crab fry looks pretty cute. Photo courtesy of S. Maslennikov.

Starter food for them – microalgae and rotifers [tiny inhabitants of freshwater reservoirs – approx. Sk.ru]. Another thing is that rotifers themselves must also be able to grow.There are a lot of pitfalls in such a simple, at first glance, business as feeding juvenile crab.

So, for the shaggy-hand crab, the food for the larger king crab is not suitable. Other water characteristics are also required. “When there is a lot of food and it is of high quality, it will be possible to feed the larvae. Experience and know-how are formed by the grains, in no scientific article, no matter how high-quality it is, you will not find answers to all questions at once, ”says Sergei Maslennikov.

His own experience was accumulated over the decades, which he devoted to marine biology.For example, when working with young shaggy-hand crab, Maslennikov found the results of many years of research on sea cucumbers and Kamchatka crab useful. Back in 1996, the biologist proposed a project to maintain the livestock of the expensive and mainly exported Kamchatka crab.

And Sergei Maslennikov’s career began in the mid-80s, when he graduated from the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science of the Far Eastern State University. He is the author of one and a half hundred scientific papers and studies (for example, the scientist was involved in the selection of a location for the Primorsky Aquarium on Russky Island; he also participated in exploration work for the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project), a member of various profile groups and commissions, an honorary researcher of the Chinese Institute seas, a graduate of a diving school and navigator courses, as well as the owner of a host of other regalia.

The breadth of Sergei Maslennikov’s professional interests is reflected in the list of areas in which the Marine Biotechnopark company he heads is engaged. This is the development and implementation of technologies for marine aquaculture of bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, crustaceans and algae; obtaining live feed for mariculture objects; creation of hydrobiotechnical installations for mariculture, control of biofouling of ships and hydraulic structures, study of communities of benthos, plankton and biofouling, including for carrying out environmental expertise when working in the sea area, study of the biology of invertebrates and algae, development of strategies for the development of marine aquaculture for regions in the coastal zone , projects for the development of marine aquaculture farms and the introduction of new technologies using development institutions and much more.

The video illustrates the main stages of the experimental ‘experimental technology for obtaining the fry of the Japanese shaggy crab. The video is provided by the “Marine Biotechnopark” company.

The company, which has a history of 13 years, is now carrying out several projects related to the shaggy crab, trepang and scallop, as well as the sea urchin. Crab is easier and cheaper to deal with, explains Sergey Maslennikov, due to the fact that the entire infrastructure is located on the shore.“The scabby-hedgehog project is more complicated, it requires going out to sea, which presupposes the availability of more significant resources and finances. Offshore work makes the project more expensive – you need to have watercraft, people who can work at sea. In general, there are very few professionals, fortunately, we have them. ”

During the interview, Sk.ru’s interlocutor repeated more than once that the fact that there are young people in his team is considered his great success. “We have an acute problem of young personnel. In the Far East, it is necessary to consolidate youth in science.Yes, the state helps, but this is clearly not enough. Our crab project is developing largely due to the fact that there are young personnel, my students and graduates. They have a sense of enthusiasm, their eyes are burning. The guys are well prepared professionally, they read scientific literature in English, and this is important. ”

Ocean Child

5 years ago, the “Marine Biotechnopark” became a resident of the biomedical cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation with the technology of obtaining highly productive trepang lines based on modern genetic selection methods.We are talking, in particular, about the identification of genetic markers for the separation of individuals and the breeding of a line with positive qualities (survival, growth rate, productivity).

Trepangs have no external differences: visually, the male is indistinguishable from the female, the adults from the juveniles. Trepangs even have such a phenomenon as negative growth: the invertebrate can lose weight and shrink in size regardless of age. “Only genomic technologies can select high-quality individuals.Our Skolkovo project is dedicated to their application for finding good manufacturers. Crossbreeding of elite breeders will allow obtaining trepang fry with good survival rates, – says Sergey Maslennikov. – Both in nature and with artificial breeding of trepang, there is a massive death of fry. If more viable individuals are selected, the severity of the problem can be significantly reduced. Obviously, the more the sea cucumber survives, the more profitable the breeding business will become. ”

Holothuria, aka sea cucumber. Photo courtesy of S. Maslennikov

The difficulty with the implementation of the trepang project is that Maslennikov and colleagues, using their methodology, are ready to improve the performance of the mariculture farm. “But this economy should have its own technologists. The problem is that almost no one has their own technologists. We are at a stage where there is no established market. ”

Regardless of the specifics of the moment, the biologist considers sea cucumbers, invertebrates such as echinoderms (trepangs are called their species used for food), a gift of fate for Russia and an ideal food for people of all ages.“It is the most important component of a healthy diet, a natural stimulant, not too high in calories, high in collagen and amino acids. To preserve youth and health longer, it is enough to eat one sea cucumber once a week or two, ”Maslennikov lists the advantages of the delicacy.

Trepanga is easy to store. The simplest recipe is to boil it in sea water and dry it. Nowadays, almost all sea cucumbers caught in the world are eaten in three Asian countries: China, Japan and South Korea.The Far Eastern sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) harvested in the Primorsky Territory, and other gifts from our seas, as the interlocutor of Sk.ru assures, are the best in the world: the most delicious, clean and healthy. Gourmets, who compared the taste of Russian and Korean trepangs, state that ours are of better quality. Far Eastern solid, Korean has a much more liquid consistency (it is believed that the harder the trepang, the better it is). In the restaurants of Vladivostok you can try the “brace”, that is. trepang stew.Another popular recipe is trepang in honey.

Scientific observations and culinary advice were included in the book “Trepang – the treasure of the Far East”. Photo courtesy of S. Maslennikov.

Sergey Maslennikov generously shares his scientific observations and culinary advice on the pages of the book Trepang – the Treasure of the Far East (the hero of the Sk.ru publication was one of the three authors of this work). From it, the reader can learn that the sea cucumber is found at a depth of 1 to 80 meters, most often in areas of high sea salinity, prefers thickets of algae and grasses, stone deposits and reefs.

“The body of the Far Eastern sea cucumber has an elongated shape with clearly distinguishable ventral and dorsal sides, but upon irritation it strongly compresses and becomes almost spherical. He moves slowly, leaning on ambulokralny legs. Its speed is negligible and is about 3 meters per hour.

Trepang is very sensitive to a decrease in water salinity. In this case, he digs deep into the ground or looks for a more comfortable and safe place among reefs and stones.During such a period, the trepang does not eat or move, and his body hardens. Due to its sluggishness and slowness, this feature is the main way of ensuring safety, helping to hide from predators and enemies. The trepang lacks visual organs, it is not able to see even a grain of sand.

In summer, the water temperature in the water areas rises, and the trepang goes into hibernation. It restores its vital activity only by the middle of autumn. During hibernation, the body becomes hard, like a stone, which provides the trepang with complete protection, because it does not arouse any interest in predators.After hibernation, trepang can throw out entrails and regenerate them again.

One of the safety functions of the sea cucumber is color change, which changes depending on the environment. Trepang reacts to changes in weather conditions. This ability, acquired in the process of evolution, serves as a signal of approaching danger and gives the trepang time and the opportunity to take refuge in stone crevices in time.

When a danger arises, the trepang pushes through the anus a part of the intestine along with the water lungs, while the contained toxins are also thrown out, scaring off and distracting the attackers.The regeneration process in sea cucumbers takes several months. Trepang is able to regenerate itself from every third of its body within two to three months without consuming food. If you make an incision on the body of a trepang with a size of 2-4 cm, then it will take 6-7 days.

Trepang is a soil eater, but the soil is not the main source of its existence. By the type of feeding, the Far Eastern trepang is detritivorous: it captures microorganisms, the upper layer of loose sediment or particles of precipitated suspension on the soil surface, dead plankton organisms and microalgae with its perioral tentacles.According to available information, per hour trepang can pass through itself from 6-8 grams of sand and silt, that is, from 50 to 70 kg per year. During its life, trepang passes from 500 to 1000 tons of sand and silt. Because of this property, the Chinese often refer to it as “the carrier and cleaner of the seabed.”

One of the developmental stages of the trepang larva. SEM image courtesy of S. Maslennikov.

The average life span of the sea cucumber is from 5 to 10 years.

Trepang is a child of the ocean. If fresh trepang is not frozen for several hours, then not a trace will remain of it: after 6 hours it will disappear as a result of self-digestion – autolysis. Only a few representatives of marine flora and fauna are capable of autolysis, ”the authors note.

The most eaten crab in the world

The Sea Biotechnopark began to prepare for an experiment with juvenile Japanese fur-hand crab about three years ago.“There is no key technology on the market – the production of planting material. This circumstance does not allow launching a new direction of aquaculture – the cultivation of freshwater crab. By that time, we had accumulated a lot of experience in working with Kamchatka crab, trepang, sea urchins, scallops, and other aquatic organisms. I went through several internships in China, where the world’s largest crab farms are located, ”recalls the head of the company. – An important role was played by the appearance on the Internet of English-language scientific articles written by Asian researchers.Previously, scientific works were published in national languages, the appearance of literature in English was a breakthrough. ”

Some of the results of the work done were presented at the Russian-Chinese bilateral meeting “Marine biodiversity for a healthy ocean – biodiversity, functional groups and ocean health” and published in his works (Arman A. Pakhlevanyan, Sergey I. Maslennikov, Ksenia S. Berdasova “Opportunities for spawning of the Japanese shaggy crab Eriocheir japonica in laboratory conditions” // Marine biodiversity for a healthy ocean – Biodiversity, functional groups and ocean health: materials of the Russia-China bilateral workshop, October 10-11, 2019., Vladivostok, Russia / ed. K.A. Lutaenko. – Vladivostok: Publishing House of the Far Eastern Federal University).

The financial crab project was supported by the A. V. Zhirmunsky National Center for Marine Biology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as by a private investor – a small Far Eastern family enterprise engaged in aquaculture. “This is our only reliable partner. Banks and large investors are of little interest in us yet there is no impressive success story, “says S.Maslennikov, who advocates a more active role of the state in regulating mariculture. “Despite the crisis, this area is showing good growth – up to 20% per year. This is a spring that was compressed some time ago and which is now being released – the spring of investment interest and the need for high-quality aquatic organisms. ” Market mechanisms could not ensure effective management of the industry and its development, so the state should be more active in this area, insists biologist Maslennikov.

Of all areas of aquaculture, the production of marine products is the most profitable business; in terms of the generated profit, mariculture may well compete with microelectronics. “Mariculture is one of the fastest growing sectors of the world economy. In addition to the growing population and the stabilization of world fish production, this is facilitated by the high quality of marine organisms as food. Unlike land-based foods, most seafood has no so-called consumer risks (mad cow disease, foot and mouth disease, avian flu, etc.)etc.). Marine products contain complete yet easily digestible proteins, rich in trace elements and essential fatty acids, while being free of cholesterol. All this contributes to the increased demand for seafood from consumers and, as a result, the development of production. So, after the salmon boom in developed countries, there was a surge of interest in mussels, when over several years the consumption of cultivated organisms increased significantly. ”

If fresh trepang is not frozen for several hours, then not a trace will remain of it: after 6 hours it will disappear as a result of self-digestion – autolysis

Sergey Maslennikov estimates the world seafood market at $ 170 billion a year; Russia is far in the backyard.“We say that the Russian Federation is a great maritime power. This is not entirely true. We got to the point that on the shelves of our stores today you can find canned mussels of foreign production, but not the one that is found in our waters, which we ourselves can grow in large volumes. In fact, we have been giving added value to anyone for many years instead of producing, processing and earning ourselves. A great maritime power is our neighbor China, which annually receives up to $ 50 million through aquaculture and coastal fisheries.tons of aquatic organisms. This is more than ten times higher than all the fishing and aquaculture in Russia combined. The scale of mariculture and freshwater aquaculture farms in China is so significant that it is easily distinguishable on satellite images of the territory and coastal waters of the PRC. The last thesis can be easily verified with the help of the Google Earth service ”. This is partly due to history: the development of aquaculture in ancient China was inextricably linked with rice farming. In addition to the PRC, mariculture is actively developed to one degree or another by all countries of East Asia (Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, etc.). East Asia accounts for over 90% of the world’s aquaculture. Russia has all the prerequisites to take a worthy place on this list, Sergei Maslennikov is convinced.

Sergey Maslennikov devoted almost 40 years to marine biology. In the photo, a scientist on the shore of Kasatka Bay (Iturup, Kuril Islands). Photo from S. Maslennikov’s personal album.

“All sea areas off the Russian coast of the Sea of ​​Japan and the south of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk are in favorable climatic conditions for the cultivation and reproduction of the most expensive commercial aquatic organisms on the domestic and foreign markets,” says the biologist.- The list of objects for breeding and reproduction can be represented as follows: bivalve molluscs (scallops, mussels, oysters, anadara, spisula), echinoderms (sea urchins and sea cucumbers), crustaceans (commercial crabs, craboids, shrimps, chilims, mantis shrimp) and macrophytes … The most popular species, for which breeding and reproduction technologies have been developed, are the seaside scallop, Pacific mussel, giant oyster, and seaweed. Two species, the seaside scallop and the giant oyster, are among the top ten world leaders in shellfish cultivation.The Far Eastern sea cucumber and king crab are among the most expensive commercial invertebrate species. Japanese kelp is the most highly productive species of plants cultivated on Earth. The yield of Japanese kelp reaches 200-300 tons of wet weight per hectare, which corresponds to 50-65 tons of dry weight. According to FAO, the volume of industrial cultivation of Japanese kelp in the world exceeds 8 million tons per year. Thus, we can say that the coastal waters of the Russian Far Eastern seas have an extremely beneficial set of species for cultivation and reproduction. “

Returning to the crab area of ​​activity of the Marine Biotechnopark. The team’s immediate plans are to get not 4 thousand fry, but an order of magnitude more. According to Sergei Maslennikov, “we are preparing, we have a broodstock and the techniques that we tested last year have been worked out.”

Female shaggy-hand crab with laid eggs. Photo courtesy of S. Maslennikov.

Mokhnathand is the most eaten crab in the world, the scientist assures. If sea crabs eat meat from claws, then in shaggy-hand crabs – the contents of the shell, the so-called hepatopancreas, which in crustaceans is an organ that combines the functions of the liver and pancreas.Shaggy-handed crab is usually boiled or fried, and eaten exclusively with the hands and covered with a pack of napkins to wipe off the abundant juice flowing down the chin. “This is a rather dirty action,” Sergey Maslennikov shares his experience, “but the crab itself is very tasty. It is important to prepare it correctly. ”

It is difficult to verify this statement – the inhabitants of Russia are practically not familiar with the taste of the shaggy-handed crab. “The demand has not yet been formed, but this is temporary. Remember how the Soviet years in cinemas before the film played videos explaining how to cook squid? And nothing, the squid got accustomed to us.Probably, the same can happen with freshwater crab, ”says Mr. Maslennikov, convinced that the main distribution channel at first may be Chinese restaurants.

This is how a crab is sold at Shanghai airport. Photo courtesy of S Maslennikov. …

China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are the main consumers of shaggy-hand crab, according to a scientist who several times went to China for training in aquaculture. The largest crab farm in the world is located in the Suzhou region on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.“You swim to the crab cages right there on a boat, the scale is, of course, impressive,” Maslennikov says. “At Shanghai Pudong International Airport, there is an advertisement for crab everywhere. In China, especially in southern China, a basket of freshwater crabs, which have their paws tied to prevent them from escaping, is a traditional gift. ”

“The export target is the Chinese and Korean markets. Who else will give a good price? By the way, a pandemic and closed borders are not a problem. Trucks with crab cross the border anyway. And if the Kamchatka crab needs cold and clean water, then the shaggy crab is much less whimsical.It is a very tenacious and active object, ”the hydrobiologist continues.

A lot has indeed been written about the survivability of this species. A year ago, the capital’s media sounded the alarm: shaggy-handed Chinese crabs were seen in the Moskva River and the Skhodnensky Derivation Canal. Presumably, they came here from the Volga, where they are no longer considered a curiosity. RIA “Novosti” then burst into a note entitled “Come in large numbers! Dangerous shaggy-handed Chinese have seized the Moscow River. ” In particular, it said: “The Chinese fur-handed crabs, Eriocheir sinensis, mainly lived in Yangchenghu Lake and the Yellow Sea, where they migrated for breeding.In 1912, together with ballast water, these animals entered Europe. There they had practically no natural enemies, and thanks to the ability to live in both fresh and salt water, by the end of the twentieth century, arthropods settled a vast territory from Portugal to Finland.

In Russia, fur-handed crabs were first spotted in the late 1980s in the Neva. In 1998, they appeared in Ladoga, the White and Black Seas, a little later – in the Volga. In 2005, the newly arrived Asians were caught in the Rybinsk reservoir in the Yaroslavl region.And now they are in Moscow.

The crab Eriocheir sinensis is considered one of the 100 most dangerous invasive species in the world according to the report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Since 1992, when these arthropods supposedly appeared in the San Francisco Bay, according to American zoologists, they have damaged the economy of the region by several hundred million dollars. Environmental hooligans tear fishing nets, destroy fish, make holes in dams – because of this, among other things, the erosion of river banks is accelerating. “

“These are mostly horror stories without facts, rather, PR of know-it-alls who heard something somewhere and shared it on the pages of some little scientific publications,” Maslennikov, a senior researcher at the National Center for Marine Biology, comments on such publications. – After that, rumors start to circulate already in the form of information.

With regard to economic damage. There are articles where the facts of the influence of invaders on local aquatic organisms were examined. A careful analysis showed that the invaders are most often blamed for the damage by local residents who blew up or destroyed local biological resources, after which the invaders occupy the vacated biotopes.So, for example, what happened to the Kamchatka crab in the Barents Sea: Norway, in order not to pay the USSR and the Russian Federation for the crab that reproduces in Russian waters, declared it a pest and the reason for the decrease in cod catches. And the fact that overfishing of cod was still in the 19th century was modestly kept silent. And now they supply our Kamchatka crab under their own brand. But it was the undermining of local biological resources that stimulated the development of the famous salmon mariculture in Norway.

Orchards in the world’s largest crab farm in the PRC are striking in size.Photo courtesy of S. Maslennikov.

Well, the deficit of cod in Sweden in general laid a theoretical basis for quantitative research methods in hydrobiology. I must say that I sometimes want to call some of our trade union associations as societies of crab poachers – so fiercely they defend their right to poaching on the basis of their claims about the dangers of crab and allegedly eating fish. This is despite the fact that the crab feeds on mollusks, worms burrowing into the ground. That is, it does not even touch the food of the fish.

Regarding the nets that crab vomit according to these claims. Most often, it gets entangled in poaching nets and cannot be quickly reached. And, of course, the anger of the poachers is terrible – after all, it is impossible to quickly hide illegal fishing gear, or even have to abandon them. For some reason, the crab never gets entangled in legal gear. But he, like a fish, cannot bypass the gill nets. He does not always break them, and it can, but poachers often have to cut him out, for speed.

If the crab destroys fish – although the facts of this are not cited in the publications at all – then what about the fish stocks of all of East Asia? This is the most fishy region in the world! How do you get out of the situation?

Making holes in dams – well, that’s ridiculous at all! All of East China, Vietnam and Laos are made up of many dams. There are crabs everywhere, and it is raised. That is, the history is more than a thousand years old. And not a single fact of dam collapse over the entire period. And here it is grown about a million tons per year.Where is that huge ecological disaster that is so much talked about? The evidence suggests otherwise. Canals did not collapse in Germany, and dams in Holland.

As for the fact that the crab devours everything in its path. There is such a science – marine biocenology. She studies the role of all components in ecosystems. So, crabs are the most important component and food resource in the ecosystem. Where there are crabs, there is always a high biodiversity and species richness. Crabs can chew and therefore eat what other animals simply cannot eat.The crabs themselves are eaten by everyone who can catch them. And at the fry stage, it is the most important food resource for fish. The same Kamchatka crab is called cod, because its fry are often found in the stomachs of cod. The shaggy-handed crab is generally able to feed on coarse plant food, which allowed it to master freshwater reservoirs. What he eats, no one else can eat, only mushrooms and bacteria.

So, I think these simple examples showed all the stupidity of pseudo-scientific tales. The shaggy crab cannot reproduce in fresh water, so the fears are based on nothing. “

The Japanese shaggy-handed crab (Eriocheir japonica), which the Marine Biotechnopark is engaged in, is the twin brother of the Chinese, only a specialist can distinguish them. This species is widespread in the northeastern Pacific coast, from Japan to Sakhalin, including Primorye. The crab spends most of its life in fresh water, including rivers, lakes, lagoons, etc., and only goes to the sea for breeding. Females are highly fertile. In the reservoirs of the Primorsky Territory, females can carry from 3-5 to 800 thousand eggs, depending on the size.

It is assumed that after receiving viable juveniles, it will be grown to marketable size anywhere in the Russian Federation, both in separate water bodies and in symbiosis with freshwater fish. “The shaggy crab is found even in the northeastern corner of Bohai Bay in the Yellow Sea. This is one of the coldest places in China, and even with a serious difference between winter and summer temperatures. Therefore, our cold climate is not a hindrance to this species. We hypothesize that in fish farms, crabs can live on the bottom and feed on leftover fish food.Freshwater crab can be grown in any pond or lake fish farm in the Russian Federation, ”says Sergey Maslennikov.

Rice growers can also derive an unexpected profit from the crab project of the Marine Biotechnopark company. “In rice paddies, you can harvest up to 200 kg of crab per hectare. Surprisingly, the crab, eating pests and weeds, does not touch the rice, so you can do without the use of chemicals in the fields. All the costs are paid for by rice, and the crab is a kind of bonus, ”the interlocutor Sk draws a tempting picture for rice growers.ru.

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