Carpet beetle dermatitis

A 22-year-old man presented with a 5-year history of recurrent urticarial and papulovesicular lesions. Careful history suggested a close examination of his environment. The woolen rug in his bedroom was infested with larvae of a carpet beetle. The insect was identified as Anthrenus verbasci. Fumigation of the house with sulfuryl fluoride (Vikane) resulted in complete clinical recovery. Intradermal injection of the antigenic extract from the larvae showed a wheal and erythema on the patient's skin, and not on normal controls. This suggests that the patient had immediate-type hypersensitivity to some of the antigens extracted from larvae. Electron microscopic pictures of the insect are presented.