Customer Reviews

Bitten: True Medical Stories of Bites and Stings

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
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This well-written and most informative book is a real eye-opener. It made me wonder how it is that the human race has managed to survive this long, given the dangers that lurk out in nature. The author, a physician specializing in infection disease, has done an excellent job in describing the various hazards of being bitten or stung. She discusses the "dangerous" creatures themselves, the biological effects on humans of their bites, stings, etc., and, most importantly, several real life cases - these add a powerful element of reality to the potential dangers involved. Creatures discussed vary from ants, spiders and snails, all the way to monkeys and humans. This book is written in an engaging and authoritative style, and is very difficult to put down. All humans should read it.

This is a very well written and well documented book which discusses many stories in which people have been bitten by bugs, animals, and even humans. The first few chapters focus on the many kinds of insects that live among humans, biting them if they get the chance; including red fire ants, black widow and brown recluse spiders, scorpions and more. Other chapters focus on snake bites, jellyfish stings, parasitism by ticks, and more. Some of the chapters talk about bites from different kinds of insects, such as the tsetse fly which then transfers a protozoan which causes a horrible disease to the people which these tiny organisms infest. Many of the chapters after that focus on bites from larger animals, crocodiles, komodo dragons, rabid wild animals, ferrets, dogs, cats, horses, etc. Many of these all carry disease causing bacteria which can infest and kill the human host to which they are transferred. The final chapter focuses on humans in which the author tells stories of accidental bites which can cause in some cases life-threatening diseases; as well as purposeful bites from people wanting to inflict pain and spread deadly diseases to others out of vengeance and rage.

When I first started reading this book I thought that no scary movie could give me the chills the same way this book did when I read it at night right before going to bed. There were a couple of nights when I just lay in bed thinking about all the little creepy crawlies that could potentially come and bite me. It gave me the shudders. Then as I read about all the bacteria and diseases that could be spread by animals, even healthy animals, and that most of the diseases are preventable as long as you get your bite looked at right away I was glad to have read such an informative book.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is not a book for light bedside reading. However, this is a very informative book with many stories of people who overcame serious bites and infections, and also many stories of those unfortunate people who very sadly passed away because of causes related to the bite they received. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in learning more about life, and some of its pains. Although the author is a Medical Doctor and often refers to treatment of bites and prescriptions given for certain bacteria and diseases, this book is not recommended as a primary source of medical help after one has been bitten. One who has received a bite should go to a doctor to get it checked out and to receive the proper medical attention.

The author includes a glossary of terms in the end of the book, as well as a long list of references, and finally ending with an index.

_Bitten_ by Pamela Nagami, is a very interesting and well-researched popular science compilation of information and stories about just about every animal that stings, bites, or can carry infectious disease. Though a few are left out (notably sharks), a great many are included, each chapter often opening up with an interesting case history of a person afflicted by one of the animals in question, followed up by information on the organism, details on the disease that they may spread, and generally several other case histories of various patients throughout the world (some of which are from the author's own experiences as a practicing physician specialized in infectious disease). I found riveting not only some of the case histories but also the incredible medical detective stories, both those relating to saving patient's lives and in other instances the struggle to develop an anti-venom or to find the animal spreading a disease. Several chapters included information on what the reader should do when confronted by this animal (for example tips on safe tick removal and effective treatment for cat and dog bites). A helpful glossary and extensive bibliography are included.

The first several animals included in the book are dangerous mainly because of their venomous bites or stings, namely fire ants, several spider species, Portuguese man-of-war and various jellyfish species, cone snails, and a number of venomous snakes.

The fire ant chapter was illuminating. I was fascinated to learn that fire ants are even more trouble than I had imagined; livestock have been known to starve when fire ants render their food inaccessible, thousands of trout have been found that died from venom poisoning after eating swarms of winged males and queens that had flown into lakes, and fire ants, attracted to the warmth of heated asphalt, have caused rural roads to collapse as they built mounds beneath them, the undermined soil eventually subsiding and causing the road to collapse.

The chapter on spiders was also quite interesting. The reasons why small spider bites can cause such huge problems for victims is still incompletely understood, but may have to do with an enzyme found in some spider venom (such as that of the brown recluse) that attacks and dissolves cell membranes. This enzyme sets a victim's defenses against his or her own tissue, leading white blood cells to dissolve a victim's flesh. This necrotic arachnidism is a worldwide problem and there isn't any consensus on best treatment.

The next group of animals was largely included for the ability to transmit infectious disease. Included in this section are ticks, tsetse flies (with the emphasis being largely on sleeping sickness), and the sandfly (which spread leishmaniasis, parasitic diseases of the skin, moist membranes of the mouth and airway, liver, spleen, and bone marrow, caused by protozoa of the genus _Leishmania_ ). Also included was a chapter on the West Nile virus, a chapter which read like a medical thriller.

Tick paralysis was very interesting to read about. At first a rather mysterious paralytic illness, physicians discovered that an attached tick could cause a type of spreading paralysis in a person or in livestock, a completely debilitating and even potentially fatal paralysis yet one that can be stopped and completely reversed when the tick is found and removed (viewers of the show _House_ will remember a case of tick paralysis from the series; indeed many of the case histories sound like the opening segments of a _House_ episode, minus of course the misanthropic doctor).

It was sad to learn that human African trypanosomiasis (East African and West African sleeping sickness) was present on the continent since prehistoric times but only became widely disseminated when Africans left their ancestral homelands thanks to roads and railways brought by the Europeans during the colonial period, a problem exacerbated when what measure of disease control maintained by the empires collapsed during the civil wars and chaos left in the wake of the European withdrawal.

Massive efforts were made to control sleeping sickness, including for a time the draconian method of wholesale destruction of wild game. In addition to "being repugnant to practically everyone," these efforts were doomed to fail because the tsetse fly, when deprived of lions, hartebeests, and bushbucks, simply moved to smaller game, and in areas cleared of wildlife, humans and their livestock moved in, becoming replacement hosts themselves for the parasites. Nagami quoted from Dr. Robert Desowitz, the author of an essay on sleeping sickness ("The Fly Who Would Be King"), who noted that "the tsetse and the trypanosome are the most stalwart guardians of the African ecosystem and its magnificent wild fauna."

The final section looked at animals that pose a danger from the damage caused by their teeth and claws and from the infection of those wounds. Included in this section where chapters on the komodo dragon, alligators, crocodiles, dogs, cats, ferrets, rats, horses, donkeys, camels, garfish, seals, roosters, owls, monkeys, the wildlife that spreads rabies, and surprisingly humans (human bite injuries, particularly to the knuckle joint, can become infected with the bacterium _Eikenella corrodens_ which can cause irreversible damage).

I was surprised to read how vicious ferrets can be. In 1988 alone physicians in Denver, Colorado reported three cases of severe facial injuries to infants from attacks by pet ferrets. In one instance a three-month-old girl, placed in her crib with her bottle, was attacked by the family ferret which managed to climb in and a few minutes chew off forty percent of both her ears. Another patient, a baby girl, lost her nose to a ferret attack.

A very interesting series of chapters, the squeamish reader is warned about "seal finger" (a bacterial infection caused by seal bites, one that can cause swollen and stiff fingers and joints and pain so agonizing that sealers once amputated their own fingers for relief) and rats eating the flesh of sleeping people (those with nerve damage, such from diabetes and leprosy, are quite susceptible to rat attacks at night).

The next time somebody says, "I don't know. I'll bite," back up slowly and tell him/her the answer. Human bites are the third most common seen in emergency rooms after dog and cat bites. People bite each other everywhere and anywhere; no place is taboo. Bites can result in stitches, infection, loss of body parts, hospitalization, or even death.

At first I was taken aback by this thick, pictureless book, but after taking a small bite of the book by reading a few chapters, I was hooked and looked forward to each reading session. Nagami's book is fascinating and easy to read. Medical terms and jargon are unavoidable, but the author's style is always engaging and understandable.

Some chapters and biters are more pertinent than others but all are interesting and edifying. I doubt I'll ever have to worry about being bitten by a Komodo dragon, or cobra, but enjoyed the chapters as much as those about mosquitoes or ticks.

This is a mainstream book with just the right amount of technical information for the casual reader; it's not a textbook for medical professionals. Perfect for a Potato Head like me.

There was far too much information packed into this book - it covered not only venomous bites and stings, but also parasites, bacteria, and trauma issues related to bites from various animals. This meant there was relatively little time to spend on any section of the book, and most of the information was very general, not at all in-depth.

Still, for a person interested in a general overview of all the horrible things that can happen when you're bitten by anything from a cat to a spider, this is an entertaining read. The writing style is very easy to read, and the anecdotal stories keep your interest.

I'd recommend it to anyone just casually interested in the topic, but for those who want any in-depth analysis of any one of the topics covered in the book will need to look elsewhere.

If you like this genre of writing, you will enjoy this volume. Fascinating true stories, and yes, it would make a great travel guide for some.

I found this book totally engrossing! It was actually hard to put down, even in the parts that were scary to read - after all, who has not been bitten by a mosquito! I have purchased another of her books - Maneater - and am finding it just as good! I am thankful that there are doctors like Pamela Nagami around to help us understand, and in many cases overcome, the numerous dangers awaiting us as we move thru our lives.

This was a fascinating book, with each chapter detailing a different type of bite that could very likely prove fatal to humans. Many of the chapters involved creepy imagery from swarms of fire ants to fatal spider bites. Tips on bite-prevention (the largest section on dog bites) and what type of medical care to immediately pursue were easily laid out in each section. The range of topics was widespread and I was genuinely disappointed when this interesting book ended.

An enjoyable book that will provide the reader with all the information they ever wanted to have on bites from spiders to donkeys!

Critters that crawl around in the dark - or the light, as the case may be - are both horrifying and fascinating. Other reviews have mentioned enough of the topic that I won't repeat that here. The book was another of author Nagami's great inform-the-public books about the things we live with every day. If you like Bitten, then you will like The Woman With a Worm in Her Head, which had some even scarier stories. I love Nagami's books and I love finding out about our world. My only complaint with her books is that within each story, she tends to jump around a bit. She usually starts out with a scare story and then often leaves you hanging while she explains the medicine behind the story, and then finally finishes up with more stories that are similar and a grand finale in telling you the outcome of the original story. While it sounds fine here, it tends to make following the mini-stories a bit difficult. Having said that, both her books are a fascinating subject and well worth the cost of a few nights time to read.