1. First Aid Essentials Slideshow Pictures
2. First Aid Bandaging Injuries Slideshow Pictures
3. First Aid Sprains & Strains Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Symptoms for fish-handler's disease caused by Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae and other species are as follows:

• The disease generally develops two to seven days after injury to the skin and subsequent bacterial infection.
• A sharply defined, red-purple circular area appears and surrounds the puncture; the center usually fades, and occasionally a vesicle (blister-like lesion) may appear.
• The area of injury increases in diameter by about ½ inch per day.
• Joint stiffness, lymph node swelling, and pain, burning, itching, and swelling at the infection site may accompany the infection.
• Rarely, the disease may progress to produce sepsis (infection of the bloodstream) and endocarditis (infection of the heart valves).

Symptoms for fish-handler's disease caused by Mycobacterium species are as follows:

• The disease generally develops about two to four weeks after exposure, although up to nine months postexposure has been reported.
• Skin lesions are often multiple and linear but can be single.
• Lesions can appear as nodules, abscesses, or ulcers, with skin color changes, and develop slowly (months).
• Joint pain, lymph node swelling, and tendonitis may develop.
• Rarely, the disease may progress to sepsis (infection of the bloodstream).