暂无摘要。

This case describes delusions of vampirism among several other psychotic symptoms in a 15-year-old who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia, with these delusions first presenting when he was 13 years of age. Delusions of vampirism can be associated with a strong desire to suck human blood but these delusional beliefs were not acted upon here. This is the first report of delusions of vampirism in childhood to date. The introduction of the antipsychotic medication clozapine after failed treatment trials with two other antipsychotic agents has been associated with a significant amelioration in symptomatology and an improvement in functioning.

Zooanthropy (delusional beliefs of turning into an animal) is a rare but well recognised psychiatric phenomenon. This case describes the presence of kynanthropic delusions (delusional beliefs of turning into a dog). Multiple other psychotic symptoms were also evident including unusually the additional presence of delusions of vampirism. Delusional beliefs in this case were associated with behavioural changes including growling and barking, and less commonly an expressed craving for biting people\'s necks to suck human blood. Symptom intensity was associated with increased psychosocial stressors for this patient, with some benefit noted from very high doses of anti-psychotic medications. Brief admissions to the acute psychiatric inpatient unit and thus removal from environmental stressors has been associated with an amelioration in symptomatology.

The concept of supernatural forces has always been part of medicine and allied science. These beliefs play a pivotal role in the patient-healthcare bond and disease awareness. Traditionally it was believed that psychiatric illnesses are mostly linked with mythologies and paranormal beings since most mental diseases appear to be lunatic and have no rational ground. Paradoxical to this conventional belief we discovered that mythological beliefs have penetrated all fields of medicine. Porphyria, hepatomegaly presenting with photosensitivity, are associated with \"vampirism.\" Similarly, holoprosencephaly, a congenital anomaly presenting facial deformity is thought to be cyclops folktales. Epilepsy though is simply a neurologic illness believed to be \"demonic possession.\" Patients of pellagra, a deficiency of vitamin B3 are thought to be werewolves. Thus, we found the presence of mythological association in all types of illnesses. We expect our healthcare infrastructure to not limit their management to counseling patients suffering from psychiatric illnesses only.

暂无摘要。

A vampire is a non-dead and non-alive chimerical creature, which, according to various folklores and popular superstitions, feeds on blood of the living to draw vital force. Vampires do not reproduce by copulation, but by bite. Vampirism is thus similar to a contagious disease contracted by intravascular inoculation with a suspected microbial origin. In several vampire films, two real bacteria were staged, better integrated than others in popular imagination: Yersinia pestis and Treponema pallidum. Bacillus vampiris was created for science-fiction. These films are attempts to better define humans through one of their greatest fears: infectious disease.