Abstract
Species of the Opuntia or prickly pear genus of cacti are endemic to the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) training area in Alberta, Canada. They are known to provoke a dermatitis reaction in harvesters of the cacti fruit. It's spines are frequently an uncomfortable nuisance to unwary soldiers exercising in BATUS. We report two cases of particularly debilitating adverse skin reactions to the cacti spines that occurred during the 2010 Exercise Prairie Thunder season.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 229-31 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps |
| Volume | 158 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2012 |
Keywords
- Adult
- Alberta/epidemiology
- Dermatitis, Contact/diagnosis
- Diagnosis, Differential
- Humans
- Incidence
- Male
- Military Personnel
- Opuntia/adverse effects
- Skin/injuries
- Wounds and Injuries/complications
- Young Adult