TICK BITES IN KOREA

Background. Tick bites are dermatoses not commonly encountered in Kore a. Recognizing their clinical signs as well as their histopathologic f indings is important in making a diagnosis of tick-related dermatoses. The incidence and causative species are different depending on the ge ographic areas. The histopathologic findings of tick bites are known t o be a variable depending on the species of ticks involved and the dur ation of their bloodsucking. Methods. Five ticks were collected from f ive patients and three of them were identified as Ixodes (I.) nipponen sis. Results. Histopathologic findings of panniculitis were prominent in four of five cases; septal panniculitis in two cases, and lobular p anniculitis in the other cases. Conclusions. Ixodes nipponensis was th e most common causative species of ticks responsible for tick bites in Korea, and tick bite panniculitis must be considered in the different ial diagnosis of panniculitis which is mainly composed of neutrophils.