MedDRA preferred term

Arthropod bite: adverse event reports recording this term

7,231 reports to FDA record it, 2004–2026; 0% of the database.

Read first · FDA's statement on these data

Adverse event reports submitted to FDA do not undergo extensive validation or verification. Therefore, a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report. While a suspected relationship may exist, it is not medically validated and should not be the sole source of information for clinical decision making or other assumptions about the safety or efficacy of a product. Additionally, it is important to remember that adverse event reports represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product. Common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product. openFDA, FDA

FDA adds: "There is no certainty that the reported event (adverse event or medication error) was actually due to the product. FDA does not require that a causal relationship between a product and event be proven, and reports do not always contain enough detail to properly evaluate an event." The information in these reports "cannot be used to estimate the incidence of these events."

Do not rely on openFDA to make decisions regarding medical care. While we make every effort to ensure that data is accurate, you should assume all results are unvalidated.

Not medical advice. This site counts what was reported to FDA. Questions about a medicine or device belong with a pharmacist or clinician.

7,231
reports recording the term: 0% of all reports; 401
reports, 12 months to June 2026: 345 in the 12 months before; 55.4%
marked serious by the reporter: 57.4% across all reports; 1.4%
record death among outcomes, as reported: 9.1% across all reports

7,231 reports in FDA's adverse event database record the MedDRA term "Arthropod bite": 0% of all reports received between February 2004 and June 2026. Coders pick the term that best matches the reporter's description.

401 reports recorded it in the 12 months to June 2026, up 16% from 345 in the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases. Of reports recording this term, 55.4% are marked serious, 1.4% include death among the outcomes and 28.6% include hospitalisation, as reported.

The drugs listed most often as suspect products in those reports are Enbrel, Humira and Dupixent. That order mostly follows how many reports each drug has overall; the table also gives the term's share within each drug's own reports. FDA states that "a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report" and that for any given report "there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event."

Reports by month, five years

FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases.

Drugs listed as suspect products in these reports

Drug	Class	Reports with this term	Share of the drug's own reports
Enbrel	Tumor necrosis factor blocker	857	0.2%
Humira	—	846	0.1%
Dupixent	Interleukin-4 receptor alpha antagonist	291	0.1%
Tysabri	Integrin receptor antagonist	157	0.1%
Revlimid	Thalidomide analog	145	0%
Cosentyx	Interleukin-17A antagonist	142	0.1%
Remicade	Tumor necrosis factor blocker	123	0.1%
Imbruvica	Kinase inhibitor	114	0.2%
Avonex	Interferon beta	104	0.1%
Methotrexate	Folate analog metabolic inhibitor	96	0%
Actemra	Interleukin-6 receptor antagonist	92	0.1%
Xeljanz	Janus kinase inhibitor	91	0.1%
Human immunoglobulin g	Human immunoglobulin G	86	0.5%
Skyrizi	Interleukin-23 antagonist	71	0.1%
Fosamax	Bisphosphonate	65	0.2%
Xyrem	Central nervous system depressant	63	0.1%
Ocrevus	CD20-directed cytolytic antibody	58	0.1%
Ibrance	Kinase inhibitor	55	0.1%
Stelara	Interleukin-12 antagonist	54	0.1%
Prednisone	Corticosteroid	53	0%
Repatha	PCSK9 inhibitor	53	0%
Pantoprazole	Proton pump inhibitor	49	0.1%
Prolia	RANK ligand inhibitor	49	0%
Xolair	Anti-IgE	49	0.1%
Otezla	Phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor	48	0%

Drugs with a page on this site, ordered by the number of their reports recording this term. The last column is the term's share within that drug's own reports, against 0% across the whole database. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

By pharmacologic class

Class	Reports with this term	Share of class reports	Median drug in class
Tumor necrosis factor blocker	1,196	0.1%	0%
Interleukin-4 receptor alpha antagonist	299	0.1%	0.1%
Kinase inhibitor	292	0%	0%
Integrin receptor antagonist	204	0.1%	0.1%
Thalidomide analog	189	0%	0%
Janus kinase inhibitor	178	0.1%	0%
Interleukin-17A antagonist	168	0.1%	0.1%
CD20-directed cytolytic antibody	156	0%	0%
Corticosteroid	145	0%	0%
Interferon beta	131	0.1%	0%

Classes ordered by count. Class shares follow the class's overall report volume as much as anything else.

Patients in these reports

Patient age

Under 20.2%13

2 to 111.5%108

12 to 171%74

18 to 4413.1%949

45 to 6429.5%2,136

65 to 7412.9%936

75 and over5.6%405

Age not given36.1%2,610

Patient sex

Female64.3%4,649

Male30%2,171

Not given5.7%411

Grey bar: all 20,646,523 reports in the database. 80% of these reports give the United States as the country.

Questions about "Arthropod bite"

What does "Arthropod bite" mean in an adverse event report?

It is a MedDRA preferred term, the dictionary FDA uses to code what a reporter described. The report's own description is not published by openFDA and is not shown here.

How many reports record arthropod bite?

7,231 reports through June 2026 (0% of all reports), 401 of them in the latest 12 months.

Which drugs appear most often in these reports?

Enbrel (857), Humira (846), Dupixent (291), Tysabri (157) and Revlimid (145). Drugs with many reports overall lead almost every term's list. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

Does a drug appearing here mean it was responsible for this reaction?

No. FDA states that "a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report" and that for any given report "there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event."

I have this symptom. What should I do?

This site cannot assess anyone. A pharmacist or clinician can; for an emergency, call the local emergency number. Nothing on this page is medical advice.

Where this comes from. Counts are built from the openFDA Drug Adverse Event (FAERS) bulk export released 28 Sep 2026, which holds reports FDA received through 30 Jun 2026. Drug names are as reported, resolved to the brand or generic name on the FDA label where openFDA's harmonisation matched them; classes are the pharmacologic class (EPC) from the label and the National Drug Code Directory of 17 Sep 2026. Terms are pooled across spelling and capitalisation variants of one MedDRA preferred term. No report narrative, lot number, patient detail or reporter identity is published. See the methodology and sources; FDA's record is authoritative, and corrections are handled within five working days.

Drug data (FAERS) through 30 Jun 2026; device data (MAUDE) through 31 Aug 2026. Not medical advice.