Bed bugs and their bites. Bed bug bites on a person. Treating a severe allergic reaction

Do you sleep poorly, toss and turn restlessly and constantly stay in a state of half-asleep? And in the morning your skin itches, itches and incomprehensible ones appear on it. Be sure that unexpected guests settle in your apartment - bed bugs. The phenomenon is unpleasant, but, fortunately, can be eliminated. What leaves the bed bug bites (photo)? How to get rid of the trouble and cure the rash that has appeared? You will learn all this from the article below.

What is this bug?

The bug is a little vampire. The shape of the body of a blood-sucking insect is oval, the body length is about 8 millimeters. Usually, the value depends on the degree of saturation of the insect. The same factor affects its color. But, as a rule, the color range of an adult varies from light brown to brown. After a heavy meal, the bug can turn burgundy or even black. The average life expectancy of insects is one and a half years, during which they feed not only on the blood of people, but also on animals and birds.

A bed bug bite, a photo of which can be found in any medical encyclopedia, can appear in any person. From an unpleasant neighborhood no one is immune. Indeed, today the myth that insects can only live in unsanitary conditions has long been debunked. This is far from true. In addition, the relationship between insect bites and the ingestion of various infections has not been officially proven. Despite this, bedbugs poison our lives greatly, interfering with normal sleep. As a result, working capacity is disturbed, severe anxiety, anxiety and even depression occur.

Even during deep sleep, you can feel the bite of a bed bug: symptoms are frequent waking up, restlessness and even nightmares. All this is waiting for you at the beginning. While you sleep, insects dine peacefully on your body. With their proboscis, they pierce the skin, reaching small capillaries. When the epidermis is punctured, the insects inject a secret that has an analgesic effect, so you don’t feel the bite itself. Painful sensations arise only when young growth "hosts" the skin, in the saliva of which there is no anesthetic substance.

What does a bite look like?

To get enough, insects need to make several bites. Usually there are three of them, so doctors jokingly call them "breakfast, lunch and dinner." What does a bed bug bite look like? The photos presented in any specialized literature demonstrate that this is a slight reddening, in the center of which there is a pronounced scarlet dot. The spots form a so-called path, the distance between them can reach as much as 2 centimeters. The bites are very itchy and itchy. It seems to a person that he was bitten by mosquitoes. To exclude the presence of buzzing and flying insects, inspect the ceiling. If there are no mosquitoes on it, then this is the work of the hands (or, more precisely, proboscis) of bed bugs.

In no case should the spots be combed, even if you are completely unbearable. The fact is that during this process you injure the skin: microscopic wounds form. They are not visible to you, but bedbugs, thanks to their excellent sense of smell, perfectly feel the proximity of blood. Therefore, they begin to attack your body even more actively.

Symptoms

How to recognize a bed bug bite? Symptoms that these insects have bitten you are as follows:

• The appearance of spots in the morning with their complete absence in the evening on the eve of falling asleep.
• The multiplicity of bites, the trajectory of which is located in one line.
• The presence of wounds on open areas of the skin: face, neck, shoulders, legs and arms. Sometimes insects crawl under pajamas, then their mark remains on the stomach and back.
• The spots that appear are round in shape, they are slightly swollen.

Other signs

How do you know that a colony of bloodthirsty insects has settled in your bedroom? First, if you suspect something is wrong, carefully inspect the bedding in the morning. Usually, after a raid and a meal of insects, pale stains of blood remain on the sheets. Secondly, move the sofa or bed away from the wall and inspect the baseboards. Bedbugs, if they are wound up in the room, leave traces of vital activity behind them: their droppings look like black dots on the surface. No, it's not dirt. All "breasts" are almost the same size and shape.

A few more features have a bed bug bite. A photo of a bloodthirsty insect in an enlarged format indicates the presence of holes on the chest and abdomen of the insect. These are the outlets of the so-called odorous glands that emit a specific smell. Some people who are in trouble say that raspberry amber is spreading around the room. Others claim that it smells like cognac, others feel almond notes.

The difference between a bug bite and an allergy

These two phenomena manifest themselves in different ways. Traces of bed bug bites differ from allergic reactions primarily in their static nature. The former retain their shape and color for a very long time, while the external signs of others often and quickly change. In addition, an allergy rash usually spreads over the entire surface of the body, without clear contours and edges. Instead, bedbug bites are located only on exposed skin in a straight line in the form of a path. Another difference is the condition of the epidermis of other family members. If the spouse who sleeps next to you does not have a single mark on the skin, most likely you have an allergy.

As for the bites of other insects, it is a little more difficult to distinguish the trace of a bug from them. Again, you should pay attention to the shape of the spots: after the bed bloodsuckers, they are clearly defined, arranged in one line. Instead, flea bites are chaotic in nature, usually appearing on the lower legs. After contact with the midge, the pain is much stronger, the wound itself is smaller, and caked blood is visible in its middle. located unevenly, in their center there is a small formation in the form of a pimple.

Who gets bitten by bed bugs first?

Adult men and the elderly are less likely to be attacked by bloodsuckers. They are also less sensitive to bites, so they do not immediately notice that they have become a victim of insects. But the rumors that bedbugs love people with a specific blood type are not true. They bite everyone, but the spots appear on the skin in different ways.

Treatment

Action should be taken as soon as you discover a problem. bedding provides primarily for the use of such medical devices:

1. Taking antihistamines. For example, Claritin, Telfast, Zirtek are very effective. They will protect you from a severe allergic reaction that can occur after a bite. Some people even go into anaphylactic shock, so it's best to protect yourself from the consequences. Moreover, these drugs are third-generation drugs, so they can be used for a long period without any side effects.
2. An ointment should be applied to the bite site, which will reduce swelling and relieve itching. Usually, the doctor prescribes an agent with an anesthetic effect: Akriderm, Afloderm or Psilo-balm.
3. You can stick a medical pharmacy patch containing painkillers on the bite site.

All these methods will help you get rid of the unpleasant sensations that voracious bugs have left on your skin.

Folk remedies

In addition to traditional medicines, there are other remedies that help reduce the negative effects of insects, which are bed bugs. Bites ... How to get rid of them with the help of traditional medicine? Everything is very simple. For these purposes, you need to use:

• Garlic: rubbed and applied to the wound.
• Pink Lotion: It dries up bites.
• Potato. It is also crushed and evenly distributed on the affected area of ​​the skin.
• Aloe juice, decoction of chamomile and St. John's wort. Cotton wool is impregnated with these liquids and a compress is applied.

Plantain leaves and a solution of baking soda also help with bed bug bites. They are also applied to the spots left after the bloodsuckers. In addition, be sure to attach a piece of ice to the wound - it will remove puffiness and swelling. Treat it with alcohol, it will dry the bite and promote its rapid healing. All of the above methods of traditional medicine will relieve the symptoms of itching and scabies within one, maximum two days.

How to protect yourself?

As you can see, the bite of a bed bug is not such a catastrophe for a person. Symptoms can be very easily removed with the help of improvised means. It is much harder to protect yourself from new raids of a bloodthirsty colony. To drive insects out of the apartment, you can go in two ways:

1. Invite a special service into the home that deals with pest control. It's expensive, but effective. Specialists spray the room with insecticides, treating every corner and even the smallest crack.
2. Carry out the full processing yourself. This is a cheap method that requires maximum effort and time. You need to purchase insecticides from the store and spray the apartment with them in accordance with the instructions.

Remember that home use drugs are sold in any form. The most effective and easy to use are concentrated emulsions. They are diluted with water in the required proportions and applied to the surface with a spray gun or brush. Chemicals are also produced in the form of aerosols and in the form of powders.

If the bugs bitten on vacation ...

The most terrible consequences of a bed bug bite are severe allergic reactions that cause many such cases in the history of medicine. In addition, close contact with insects sometimes provokes the development of skin infections, causes nausea, fainting and hyperemia - capillary overflow in the bite area. Victims may complain of difficulty breathing, muscle spasms in the bronchi and severe swelling. But these cases are usually isolated.

Basically, bedbug bites are no more terrible than mosquito bites. Insects are not carriers of dangerous infections, so they cannot infect you. The only trouble from such a neighborhood is an ever-itchy rash. In addition, people who are bitten by bedbugs at night do not sleep well. As a result, they have low labor productivity, at the same time - increased nervousness and irritability. Sometimes the bite fester - in that case, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Details No.Insects January 07, 2018 Updated: August 17, 2019

Bed bugs are blood-sucking insects with a flattened oval body shape from 3 to 8 mm long. The color and size of bedbugs depends on their age and degree of blood saturation. An adult has a color from light brown to brown. After the bug gets drunk on blood, the color can change from bright red to almost black. The average life expectancy of bedbugs is from 1 year to 1.5 years.

Bed bug bites is their way of eating to support life. Bedbugs feed exclusively on the blood of humans, birds, and animals.

Unfortunately, in our time, no one is immune from the appearance of such extremely unpleasant insects as bed bugs. The stereotypes that these insects appear only in unsanitary conditions are long gone.

At the moment, the connection between bedbug bites and infection through a bite with various diseases has not been found. Nevertheless, the bugs are great poisoning our lives, interfering with a restful sleep, thereby lowering efficiency.

What do bed bug bites look like?

The main difference is massive, densely spaced and grouped bites. Usually, bed bug bites are located in one line. The number of bites of one bug is also typical - 3 - 5 skin punctures at a distance of 2 - 4 centimeters from each other.

The difference between bedbug bites and an allergic reaction

In most cases, bed bug bites are misdiagnosed as scabies or an allergy to something. But there are significant differences between a bed bug bite and an allergic reaction.

• Redness from a bite is not continuous, it is located in a path.
• An allergic rash is spread over the entire surface of the body, and not in any separate open areas.
• The bite mark usually does not change over time, the size, color and shape of the allergy rash can change quite quickly.
• Other family members did not notice anything suspicious on their skin, unlike the victim.

The difference between bedbug bites and bites of other insects, such as mosquitoes, fleas, etc.

Distinguishing a bedbug bite from other insect bites is somewhat more difficult, since all bites look about the same - a red spot accompanied by itching.

From a mosquito bite, a bug bite differs in a more delineated shape. Flea bites are distributed randomly on certain areas of the skin (most often the lesions are the legs, up to the knees), while bedbug bites are located approximately in one line. The pain from the bite of the midge is stronger, and the wound from the bite itself is smaller, with a drop of gore in the middle. Bites of large insects (bees, hornets, wasps) are always remembered by a person because of acute pain. The bugs bite imperceptibly and the bite can be detected after some time.

Bed bug bite symptoms

Bedbugs mainly bite open areas of the body: legs, arms, neck, face, shoulders. The bite itself can manifest itself in each person in different ways.

As a rule, the main symptoms of a bed bug bite include severe redness, rounded swelling, severe and irritable itching. Unlike mosquito bites, bedbug bites are more painful and more clearly defined. In some cases, an allergic reaction is possible, but this is rare.

Bed bug bite marks are a reaction to the saliva that the bed bug secretes before being bitten so that the blood is better prepared for the reception. Because of this, the bite from a bed bug bite lasts longer than from a bite from other insects.

Interestingly, if an adult bug bites you, then you may not immediately see the reaction. If the young growth, then, most likely, the reaction will not take long to wait - it will manifest itself instantly. This is due to the fact that young bugs, unlike adults, are not able to secrete saliva, which contains a substance that acts as an anesthetic.

So, to summarize, The symptoms of bed bug bites are as follows:

• Redness
• Swelling
• Grouped bites (3 - 5 skin punctures at a distance of 2 - 4 centimeters from each other).

Also, bedbugs are characterized by a special smell, because. they have odorous glands, the openings of which are located in adults on the chest, and in larvae on the abdomen. If you crush the bug, which is very difficult in principle, you can smell their specific smell. By the way, opinions differ about the smell: some believe that the bugs smell like something sweet, like spoiled raspberries, others say that it is cognac, and others say that the room with bugs smells like almonds.

When and who are bedbugs biting in the first place?

With a large population of bedbugs in your living space, hungry insects can bite not only at night, but also during the day, although this is not typical for them. Therefore, the sooner you get rid of bed bugs, the sooner you can safely be in your apartment.

Feelings of bed bug bites are often subjective and individual. For example, women and children most often complain of bites. Their skin is thinner and softer, therefore, the vessels are closer, which attracts the bug.

Adult men are less sensitive to bites, and sometimes they may not notice them at all. Rumors that bedbugs bite people selectively, and even more so carriers of certain blood types, are erroneous. Bed bugs bite everyone, but the reaction to a bite is different for everyone. So, there is no connection between the frequency of bed bug bites and a person's blood type.

How do bed bugs bite?

Any blood-sucking insect has its own nutritional characteristics. Bed bugs are no exception. There are many specific details about how bed bugs bite. The mouth apparatus of bedbugs is of a piercing-sucking type, has the form of a jointed proboscis at the top of the head and is adapted for sucking out liquid substances. For example, mosquitoes simply stick their proboscis into the skin, while bedbugs have as many as two pairs of jaws, thanks to which they feed.

But back to how the bug bites. As mentioned above, there are two channels in the proboscis of the bug, allowing it to feed and even go unpunished for some time. One channel is for sucking the blood of the victim, the second is for introducing saliva into the bite, which contains a substance that plays the role of an anesthetic.

How dangerous is a bug bite?

The most dangerous consequence of a bed bug bite is a possible allergic reaction. There are cases in history when, in people who are especially sensitive to the enzymes that the bug secretes, the bite provoked anaphylactic shock.

Severe allergic reactions are very dangerous for a person, in addition to anaphylactic shock, they can cause:

• Erosion of the skin.
• Severe swelling in the bite area.
• Difficulty breathing (muscle spasms in the bronchi).
• Hyperemia (overflow of blood vessels in the bite area).
• Sometimes nausea, fainting.

In general, a bedbug bite is no more dangerous than a mosquito bite. As mentioned above, bedbugs are not carriers of infections that are dangerous to human life.

Some people may develop a rash that does not go away for a long time. However, more often, insects crawling on the bed can cause psychological disorders and fear of falling asleep. Due to the impossibility of resting calmly, people's working capacity decreases, their general well-being worsens, nervousness and irritability increase.

Also, bites may not heal for a long time and after a while begin to fester. Most likely, this is a sign that an infection has entered the wound when combing. In this case, it is advisable to consult a doctor.

Therefore, pest control must be carried out together, otherwise the desired effect may not be achieved!

In order to at least somehow protect yourself from bites until the complete destruction of insects, you should do the following:

• Wet clean the room, move the bed away from the wall and other pieces of furniture, remove bed linen, wash at the highest possible temperature.
• Carefully check the mattress and pillows for the presence of the bugs themselves and their eggs (pay special attention to the seams), and it is better to iron everything with steam.
• Lay clean bed linen so that it does not touch the floor. If there is such an opportunity, then under each leg of the bed you can put a container of water, this will serve as a barrier.

This procedure will help you protect yourself from bites at night. It is also known that bedbugs do not tolerate strong odors and the smell of tobacco smoke.

It is very common to get bedbug bites while traveling, spending the night in a hotel room or a cheap hotel. Therefore, in order to avoid unpleasant consequences, you should carefully inspect the room in which you plan to spend the night, and if after the trip you still suspect something is wrong, then the best way out is to take all the things that were with you on the trip to dry cleaning. If this is not possible, then the bag with things must be put in an empty bath, everything should be reviewed for the presence of bedbugs and eggs, shaken off and washed at the highest possible temperature.

Getting rid and treatment of bed bug bites

In most cases, treatment for bed bug bites is not required. Any bite symptoms disappear within 1-2 days. If the bite site hurts and itches, you can treat it with antibacterial soap or alcohol.

Also, folk methods of getting rid of bites include:

• Ice. It relieves swelling well.
• Alcohol. Treat the bite site with a piece of cotton wool or bandage soaked in alcohol.
• Aloe juice or plantain leaves.
• A decoction of chamomile, St. John's wort.
• A solution of baking soda. Wipe the bite with a highly concentrated solution.
• Grated garlic. It should be applied to the wound for a while.
• Pink lotion. It will help to dry the bite site.
• Potato. Apply to bite.

You can also use any soothing ointment: Afloderm, Psilo-balm, Menovazin, etc. Zindol helps well - it is a healing suspension that is effective for skin damage.

Video about a bug bite and its saturation

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If you put 40 bedbugs in a room with favorable conditions, after 6 months their number will reach 6000.

Photo of bed bug bites on human skin

There are a number of specific signs by which it can be determined that the culprits of damage to the skin are precisely:

1. After a bite from a domestic bug, a swelling remains with a pronounced contour and a protruding bump.
2. The main distinguishing feature is the characteristic paths from the bites of domestic bugs (see photo). It is not common for these bloodsuckers to make single punctures. Each insect bites its prey 3-5 times, the interval between bite marks can vary within 2-4 cm collectively, and therefore the number of tracks can vary from several units to several tens.
3. Upon careful examination in the center of the bump, you can see a trace of a puncture through which the bloodsucker fed.
4. Spots of blood on bedding, wallpaper adjacent to the bed.
5. Bedbug bites appear after sleep. At night, a person does not feel how the insect sucks blood.
6. Bed bugs only bite at night. During the day they hide in secluded places. A rare exception that can make bloodsuckers go hunting during the day is a prolonged hunger, which makes them especially aggressive, or a high concentration of individuals, due to which they have nowhere to hide during daylight hours.
7. In places where the bug has bitten, severe itching, burning and pain, slight peeling of the skin may appear.

The reaction of the skin to the bites of domestic bugs depends on the puncture site and the thickness of the skin. On the face and neck, the skin is thinner and the capillaries are close, in these places bite marks appear more strongly.

On a note!

A bed bug bite in a child is accompanied by spots of a brighter color and larger size compared to adults.

Regardless of gender, age, the bug absorbs a mass of food that is twice its own mass. are smaller and have a transparent body. If you examine the larva after feeding, you can see a drop of blood in its stomach.

On a note!

One adult bug makes 3 to 5 punctures during feeding. This amount of blood is enough for him not to experience hunger for 6-10 days. The feeding time for an adult is 15-25 minutes, for young animals it takes 3-4 minutes to be completely satiated.

Satiety

On a note!

Differences between bed bug bites and other insect bites

The bites of all insects for an ignorant person seem similar - redness that itches. Therefore, it can be difficult to determine.

The difference between a bug bite and a mosquito bite

It is especially easy to confuse a mosquito bite and a bedbug in the summer. The nuances of insect behavior and traces of punctures have a number of characteristic differences:

• the appearance of mosquitoes is usually accompanied by a buzz, but the bugs do not give out their presence with sounds;
• mosquitoes can appear both in the daytime and at night, and bedbugs in the daytime prefer to go unnoticed and leave their own only at night;
• bedbug bites have sharper contours than mosquito bites;
• traces of mosquito bites are arranged randomly, and bedbugs are several in a row.

The difference between tick bites and bedbugs

Wounds from tick bites are larger. accompanied by painful sensations and it is easy to detect on the skin, since the tick tends to immerse its head under the wound.

How to distinguish bedbug bites from fleas

The difference between midge bites and bedbugs

The midge prefers to bite on the street, unlike the "domovity" bugs. A small black insect does not pierce the skin, but literally gnaws it out. A person instantly feels severe pain and the bite mark begins to itch badly. Midge bites heal for a long time and disappear after a week.

What is dangerous bed bug bite

As a result of epidemiological studies, the fact of the transmission of dangerous viruses for human life has not been proven. Bed bug bites are more common for people who are particularly sensitive to the enzyme contained in the insect's saliva. In such cases, bites can provoke anaphylactic shock and Quincke's edema.

Cases when bedbug bites can cause a deterioration in well-being are considered isolated. For most people, they are just as dangerous as mosquitoes. To a greater extent, the appearance of blood-sucking insects in the apartment affects the mental state:

• For a squeamish and suspicious person, only the image of a bloodsucker can terrify. And what can we say about close proximity and crawling bloodsuckers on their own bodies, which, in addition to everything else, can also bite.
• Deterioration of sleep leads to irritability, decreased performance.
• The appearance of neurosis, depression.

How to treat bedbug bites

If the puncture site is very itchy and sore, it is recommended to treat it with warm water and an alcohol solution to avoid suppuration. There is no specific effective drug for preventing and treating bedbug bites. You can use ointments that have an antiseptic effect, essential oils that will help damaged skin heal faster.

On a note!

To speed up the healing process of the wound, it is recommended to lubricate with Fenistil gel. It will relieve itching, swelling and reduce pain. Menovazin, Afloderm have proven themselves well. Preparations can be purchased at pharmacies, they are notable for their low price, they should be smeared with damage 3-4 times a day. People prone to allergic reactions should drink a course of antihistamines.

With severe allergic reactions to bites, self-treatment is categorically contraindicated. If mucus appears in the wounds or they do not go away for a long time, you should consult a doctor. Only a specialist can prescribe the right and effective medicines.

Folk methods for bites

In the piggy bank of folk remedies, many recipes have been collected to alleviate and eliminate the discomfort associated with insect bites.

How to prevent bed bug bites

Absolutely effective ways to prevent bloodsucker bites do not yet exist. However, you can pick up products with a repellent smell of insects or cook it yourself.

On a note!

According to external signs, the bite of the above insect is very similar to the trace left by an ordinary mosquito:

1. It also has a round shape.
2. Slight swelling.
3. At the same time, it itches and itches.

However, a distinctive feature of the bite of this particular insect is a kind of track of traces. This is due to the fact that the bed bug digs into the human skin at the locations of the saphenous veins.

The insect, as a rule, leaves its bites along the blood vessels, while the distance between them is almost the same and averages about 2 cm.

Important signs indicating that a person has been bitten by a bed bug are:

1. No pain at the site of the bite.
2. A slight burning sensation that disappears during the day.
3. Partial or complete disappearance of the bite mark during the day.
4. The presence of a trace on an open area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe body (this insect can quite easily penetrate under the covers, however, it is much more difficult for it to cope with the clothes in which a person sleeps).
5. The appearance of a bite indoors (bed bugs can only bite indoors, so it is impossible to be attacked by these insects, for example, on the street).

Biting symptoms

There are a number of signs by which you can recognize the bite of a bed bug and distinguish it from other insects.

Such symptoms include:

1. Night period of the appearance of traces: since these insects are inactive during the daytime, they usually bite at night. Therefore, if before going to bed there were no suspicious marks on the body, but they were found only the next morning, after waking up, there is a huge degree of probability that the bites belong to bed bugs.
2. A large number of bites: this is due to the fact that these insects exist on their own, and not in groups, like many insects. Therefore, during sleep, a person can be bitten by several of these individuals at once.
3. "Trail" of bites: even if a person was bitten by the same bug, there will still be several traces of his "activity". This insect sucks blood from several places, moving along the human skin. For this reason, a kind of “path” of traces is formed on the human body, the distance between which, as a rule, is about 2 cm.
4. The marks are round, reddish and slightly convex.
5. The site of the lesion itself is very itchy and there is a strong burning sensation in the places where traces appear.. Skin burning is the reaction of the body to the ingress of insect saliva on human skin.

Other signs

There are also secondary signs that will also help to understand that it was the insects in question that left the marks on the human body.

Additional features include:

1. Specific smell. The saliva of these pests has a certain smell that resembles the aroma of cognac or raspberries. Moreover, this smell is strong enough, so it can be easily felt;
2. Traces. As a rule, these insects leave traces not only on the human body, but also on bedding. After examining a sheet or blanket, you can find soft, bloody spots;
3. The results of vital activity in the room. These pests, like any living creatures, leave behind traces of vital activity that look like small, round, black balls. You can see them by looking under the bed or sofa. The presence of a litter will be a clear sign of the appearance of these "uninvited guests" in the apartment.

The difference between a bug bite and an allergy

When faced with a bed bug for the first time, it is easy to confuse a bite mark with a common allergy.

However, it is quite simple to exclude the possibility of an allergy in such a case:

1. An allergy spreads throughout the body, leaving traces on various parts of a person's skin. Traces left by bedbugs can only be observed on open areas of the skin of the arms, legs, neck, and shoulders.
2. In addition, unlike an allergic reaction, bite marks are located on the skin in the form of "chains".
3. In addition, the bite mark of this particular insect usually disappears much faster, than allergic skin lesions.
4. And of course, if two people were in bed at night, and in the morning, the skin is affected by red spots on only one of them, with a high degree of probability we can say that this is an allergy, and not a consequence of the night "work" of the bed bug.

It is quite simple to distinguish a skin lesion from a bug from an allergy, however, one should not forget that it is the bite of this insect that can cause an allergic reaction.

How does a bed bug bite

The bite is made with the help of a tube consisting of two jaws. This tube is called the "proboscis":

1. Getting on human skin, bugs, feeling the beating of blood in the vessels, find blood capillaries.
2. With their jaws, they pierce the skin, after which, into the hole formed on the skin of a person, they lower their proboscis.
3. With the help of the proboscis, the insect sucks blood.

The proboscis itself has a specific structure: it consists of two channels. Through one channel, the insect sucks blood, and through the second, it releases its saliva into the human skin. Thanks to saliva, the presence of this insect on the human body is very difficult to feel.

It is very difficult for these pests to get under pajamas or a nightgown, therefore traces of their “activity” are most often observed on the following parts of the body:

1. hands.
2. Legs.
3. back.

That is, on those areas of the skin that were not hidden under clothing during sleep.

What to do with bites - treatment

If a person nevertheless became a “victim” of a bed bug, it is worth taking care of the appropriate treatment. You can be treated both in traditional ways and with the help of traditional medicine.

If the skin of a person was struck by a bug, you need:

1. To prevent the likelihood of an allergic reaction, take an antiallergic agent.
2. Treat the affected area of ​​​​the skin with a special ointment that will prevent swelling and soothe itching.
3. Apply a bactericidal patch to the affected area.

Traditional medicine, in a similar situation, suggests using the following methods:

1. Slice the potato and cover the bite surface with the slices.
2. Rub the garlic on a grater, and spread the resulting garlic mass over the affected area of ​​​​the skin.
3. Make a compress by applying aloe flower juice or a decoction of chamomile and St. John's wort to a cotton swab. Moisten the bite mark with this swab.
4. Treat the affected area with alcohol or a solution of baking soda.

It is worth knowing that if the bite mark does not disappear for several days, while it continues to itch and itch, most likely some kind of infection has "sneaked" into the human body. In this case, you should definitely consult a doctor.

How to protect yourself

The most effective method by which you can protect yourself and your family from the appearance of these "uninvited guests" is the disinfestation of the premises.

Disinsection can be carried out independently by purchasing specialized chemicals for the destruction of pests. However, it would be wiser to resort to the help of professionals and contact a company that has the appropriate type of activity.

At the same time, it is worth remembering that it is also worth carrying out disinsection in neighboring apartments, since bedbugs can easily move into housing in the neighborhood.

There are also proven folk methods with which you can protect yourself from bedbugs. These include:

1. Treatment of furniture, skirting boards, as well as mattress seams, with alcohol, vinegar, valerian tincture or hydrogen peroxide. Bedbugs do not tolerate the smells of these products, which helps to prevent their sudden appearance.
2. Washing bed linen in hot water. The deadly temperature for bedbugs is a temperature of at least 60 degrees, so washing in hot water will help prevent the appearance of bedbugs, and already existing insects are unlikely to survive at this temperature. A similar modern way to protect against these insects is to use a steam cleaner.
3. Airing bed linen, as well as pillows and mattresses at low temperatures. This method is relevant in winter, since if the bedding is taken out to frost from -20 degrees, these insects will also die. These insects are also sensitive to low temperatures, so regular airing of the linen will prevent the appearance of these "intruders".

Thus, no one is safe from the bite of a bed bug.

Although in itself, it is not dangerous, the consequences of its appearance, in the form of an allergic reaction or infection in the human body, can still be quite unpleasant:

1. Such consequences of the "work" of insects are infrequent., however, if they occur promptly and without fail, it is necessary to consult a doctor.
2. You can easily get rid of traces on your own, at home. However, before proceeding with treatment, it is necessary to find out that the mark on the body was indeed left by a bed bug. Fortunately, this is not difficult to do: the bites of these pests are quite easy to distinguish from allergies and bites of other insects (for example, mosquitoes).
3. In order to avoid the appearance of such "uninvited guests", it is recommended to carry out disinfestation in the dwelling, ventilate bedding, wash and iron nightwear more often, and also, during cleaning, carefully inspect the floor for traces of vital activity of these insects.

Update: October 2018

Ticks and bedbugs are small insects, sometimes invisible to the eye, that can cause a lot of trouble to a person. Meeting with them is likely both in nature and in your own home. In most cases, a person is of food interest for these insects. In this article, we will look at how to differentiate and treat certain types of bites, get acquainted with the methods of control and prevention of bedbugs and ticks, as well as fleas.

Bed bugs

By themselves, bed bug bites are not dangerous for the transmission of any diseases, although the possibility of transmitting pathogens of tularemia, anthrax, brucellosis, and smallpox through an insect is not excluded. Also, a bug bite does not cause pain discomfort.

But a significant skin rash, allergies, unpleasant body odor, and an unaesthetic appearance of the skin often bring psychological trauma to a person who, not knowing the cause of his condition, begins to look for terrible diseases in himself and closes in his problems. Thus, the consequences of a bed bug bite are the physical and moral suffering of a person.

How to detect insects indoors?

• Brown-brown stains on bedding and underwear, which remain from insects accidentally crushed by a person.
• Accumulations of eggs, excrement and scales remaining after the molting of the bug in the grooves between pieces of furniture, under furniture, in niches for linen sofas and beds.
• A specific smell in the premises (with severe infection).

Bed bug bite symptoms

• Multiple small red spots on the body, resembling small pimples or mosquito bites. Bed bug bite marks
• Slight swelling of the affected areas of the skin.
• Strong itching.

However, these symptoms are not always present. When biting, an adult bug releases a special enzyme into human skin, making its bite invisible both in sensations and outwardly - there is no redness and itching. Vivid symptoms occur in people with a tendency to allergies, with a strong infection of the premises, as well as when bitten by young bugs.

What do bed bug bites look like?

Distinguishing bed bug bites from other insect bites is easy. As a rule, this is:

Bed bug bite treatment

There is no specific treatment for bedbug bites. Minor skin rashes resolve on their own within 3-4 days. Therapeutic measures are aimed at eliminating unpleasant symptoms and should be carried out in parallel with measures to combat bedbugs:

• Thorough skin hygiene with detergents in the evening and morning.
• Lubrication of the affected skin with hydrogen peroxide or antipruritic ointment (Fenistil) 3-4 times a day (see)
• With a strong severe allergic reaction - taking antihistamines for 3-5 days (Loratadin, Zirtek, Telfast, see).

How to get rid of bed bugs

The most effective is the sanitization of contaminated premises, which is carried out by an organization specializing in this. Very often, attempts to remove annoying insects on their own end with people simply getting rid of infected furniture, however, this is not a guarantee that all individuals have left the living quarters.

Chemical Methods

These include the use of insecticides, which should be used to treat furniture, crevices, baseboards, floors, and other places in accordance with the instructions. The treatment should be carried out twice, the second time - two weeks after the first treatment, when young individuals from the surviving eggs can hatch.

Independent use of insecticides requires accuracy and caution. No matter how safe the insecticides are, you can not treat the premises in the presence of children and pregnant women. You should strictly follow the instructions, especially the dosage of the drug, as well as take personal measures to prevent poisoning.

The most effective insecticides:

natural methods

These include the use of plants: common tansy, wormwood in fresh or dry form is laid out in the most typical habitats of bedbugs - under furniture, in crevices, on the floor, etc. It also helps to treat rooms and furniture with a decoction of wild rosemary leaves. These methods are safe for humans and involve use without eviction from the premises.

Another natural method is to take contaminated furniture outside for several days, which is effective in sub-zero temperatures and in hot weather. Insects do not withstand frost and direct sunlight, so they die within a day. In addition, they lose their source of nutrition, which accelerates their death.

dust mites

The dust mite, Dermatophagoides, has a microscopic size of 0.1-0.5 mm. There are about 150 species of dust mites. Being a synanthropic arthropod, it lives in a human dwelling. The life cycle is 60-80 days. City apartments are an ideal habitat for dust mites, since they have the optimal environment for reproduction and life: a temperature of 20-25 C and high humidity, plus a constant source of nutrition, which is the dead epithelium lost by humans. They are found in large numbers in house dust, beds, sofas, carpets.

Harm to humans

These small inhabitants of city apartments do not bite a person, but bring great harm to their livelihoods. Dust mite feces contain digestive enzymes that contribute to the destruction of human skin and, when inhaled, cause severe allergic reactions up to bronchial asthma. For tick-borne bronchial asthma, spring-autumn exacerbation and night attacks are characteristic.

Most often, dust mite fecal antigens cause, and.

Tick ​​allergy symptoms:

• persistent rhinitis not associated with ARI disease, which is difficult to treat with vasoconstrictor and other drugs. It starts suddenly and also ends abruptly, in advanced cases it is present almost all year round;
• nasal congestion;
• lacrimation;
• headaches;
• itching and redness of the skin, dryness and;
• dry cough;
• attacks of suffocation at night.

Treatment of allergies caused by dust mites

Tick ​​allergy is a global problem, since the complete destruction of house dust mites is impossible, and every year an increasing number of people with hypersensitivity to dust mite antigens are registered, especially children (the percentage of children with allergies is 6% per year).

This is the most active household allergen, the number of dust mites in 10 mcg per 1 gram of dust increases the likelihood of developing bronchial asthma by 3 times.

The most effective is ASID-therapy: allergen-specific immunotherapy. The method consists in introducing an extract of house dust mite allergens into the body in a gradually increasing concentration. Thus, the immune system gradually gets used to the allergen, the severity of the allergic reaction decreases and, in general, sensitivity to this allergen decreases. Properly carried out treatment leads to the fact that the allergic person completely stops responding to the allergic component of the house dust mite and gets rid of the symptoms.

This method is preferable to traditional treatment with antihistamines, it is used in children from 5 years and adults. Allergies, especially to house dust mites, are difficult to correct with anti-allergic drugs, the body gets used to them, and the use of increasingly stronger drugs in greater concentrations is required. At the same time, the human immunity weakens, the body becomes sensitive to all new allergens, and allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis gradually develops into asthma.

Maintaining the cleanliness of the premises is essential.

• daily wet cleaning
• minimization of "dust-collecting" items: carpets, soft toys, blankets
• constant ventilation of the premises
• the imposition of special air purifiers that supposedly wash the air, newfangled vacuum cleaners is more of an advertising move by the manufacturers of these goods. No device can 100% get rid of dust mites. And we cannot influence the population of ticks in public places, kindergartens, offices.

A variety of hardening procedures, good nutrition, proper drinking regimen and a healthy lifestyle have a positive effect on immunity and increase the body's resistance to allergens.

Fleas

Fleas are small insects 1-4 mm in size. The body has a flattened shape, so the insect is difficult to catch. They are distinguished by great jumping ability due to the presence of long hind legs and high "maneuverability" - the flea easily runs from place to place in the thick fur of the animal

The natural hosts of fleas are warm-blooded, woolly animals. Man, as an organism for constant life, is of no interest to a flea. Fleas that can live on and bite humans for a while are called Pulex irritans, cat fleas, Ctenocephalus telis, can also feed on human blood. They can get into a person’s dwelling with animals, as well as on the person himself, attaching to his clothes.

Harm to humans

In addition to pain at the time of the bite and constant itching after the bite, flea bites can turn into serious diseases carried by these insects: plague, dermatophiliasis, pulicosis, rat typhus, rickettsiosis, tularemia, listeriosis, dipilidiosis.

Secondary infections that occur as a result of scratching wounds turn into furunculosis, abscesses, abscesses and ulcers. An allergic reaction to a flea bite leads to extensive skin irritation, which can eventually result in neurosis and insomnia.

Flea bites on a person

Most often, fleas bite in the lower limbs. When living in blankets, upholstered furniture, fleas can bite other parts of the body. When biting, the flea attaches tightly to human skin, and may look like a black dot.

The symptoms of a flea bite are bright, it is difficult to confuse them with other types of bites. By biting, the insect introduces a special enzyme into the wound, which thins the blood. The bite itself is accompanied by a sharp pain, which turns into itching and burning. A hyperemic spot with a diameter of about 5 mm remains at the site of the bite, in the center of which there is a blood point.
The spot swells, the hemorrhagic point remains visible for 3-5 days and causes significant itching. With the development of an allergic reaction, urticaria occurs.

Children may also experience general symptoms, especially with multiple bites: low-grade fever, anxiety, diarrhea.

What to do with a flea bite

• Treat the bite site with an antiseptic - hydrogen peroxide, alcohol solution, potassium permanganate.
• Apply a cold compress to the bite site.
• Apply an antipruritic or antiallergic ointment to the bite area.
• During the entire period of resolution of the bite on the skin, it is important not to scratch the wound, as this will lengthen the recovery period of the skin and threatens with a secondary infection. Soda lotions will help relieve itching (1 tsp of soda in a glass of water).
• If the wound still festered, a sterile cotton swab with an antibiotic-containing ointment (, gentamicin, etc.) should be applied to the abscess.

How to get rid of fleas

• Remove fleas from pets with special insecticides.
• Disinfect animal habitats - bedding, soft houses. To do this, they need to be soaked in a solution of a household disinfectant, then washed in water with a temperature of about 50 C and rinsed well.
• Treat the apartment, car interior with a special insecticide, carefully following the instructions and safety rules - Tetrix, Effective Ulra, Solfak, Chlorpyrimark. If necessary, the treatment is repeated after 2-3 weeks.
• If you are intolerant to chemicals, you can use wormwood grass, which should be spread around the apartment, especially on the floor and at the entrance.
• Throw out the dust bag for the vacuum cleaner, where fleas live and breed with pleasure.

Ticks

Ticks are a real threat to rural and urban residents, from warm spring days to autumn. Every year, an increasing number of infected ticks are registered, the bite of which can cause dangerous diseases, such as tick-borne encephalitis, and others.

Ticks attack both humans and animals in order to get food - blood. They react to the temperature and smells of warm-blooded animals, sensing them from a distance of 5-10 meters. In anticipation of the victim, they sit on plants, clinging to human clothes or animal hair with their front paws at the moment when it touches the plant. They do not immediately dig in, so the victim has the opportunity to notice him and shake him off.

There are about 48 thousand species of ticks in the world.

• The most real threat is borne by tick bites from the Ixodid order, which cause borreliosis and),
• Arthropods that cause various tick-borne fevers.

Ticks live not only in forests and parks, they can be found in the green zone of the local area, low shrubs and even grass. As a rule, vegetation does not rise above 1 m. Their dimensions are small, only 2-4 mm, it is very difficult to notice a tick, it is almost impossible to feel it on yourself at the time of the attack.

How does a tick bite happen?

It is almost impossible to detect a tick bite right away. Tick ​​bites are lubricated with a special anesthetic, so it is practically not noticeable. Particularly sensitive people may feel discomfort in the form of pulling pain, a feeling as if a mote, a needle has fallen under the clothes.

The tick tries to choose areas with delicate and thin skin, which is easier to bite through:

• behind the ear;
• armpits
• code under the breast;
• groin and genitals;
• buttocks.

At the time of the bite, the tick bites through the skin and places a hypostome, a special outgrowth of the pharynx with teeth that hold the tick, into the wound. In the process of sucking blood, the tick increases significantly in size.

If the tick is infected with borreliosis, then the pathogenic bacteria enter the human blood only when the tick begins to suck blood, because. live in the gastrointestinal tract of an arthropod, and this is a few hours after the bite. In this case, removing the tick early can prevent the disease.

How to properly remove a tick - first aid for a tick bite

If it is possible to get to a medical facility as soon as possible, this should be done, the doctors will quickly and without consequences remove the tick. If this is not possible, you should remove the tick yourself as soon as possible:

Put on rubber gloves and a plastic bag.
Remove tick:

• with the help of special devices (Tick Twister, Ticked-Off, The Tickkey, Trix Tick Lasso, Anti-mite). They are always accompanied by detailed instructions for use.
• with the help of a thread. A strong thread is thrown over the head of the tick at the very base, i.e. near the skin in the form of a loop. The ends of the thread are carefully tightened, after which, holding the ends of the thread, you should rotate the tick clockwise or counterclockwise - a couple of movements, and the tick can be easily removed from the wound.
• with tweezers. Gently grab the head of the tick with the tip of the tweezers and twist it without pressing on the abdomen or pulling.

After removing the tick, it should be planted in a glass jar.

• Remove the remnants of the tick with a sterile needle if they remain in the wound. It is best to use a sterile needle from a new syringe, in extreme cases, you can take an ordinary needle, hold it over a flame, treat it with alcohol a minute after cooling, and only then remove the tick.
• Treat the wound with an antiseptic.
• Send the extracted tick to the laboratory for analysis.

Consequences of an encephalitic tick bite - symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis

The latent period is 5-25 days, but most often the symptoms appear in the period 7-14 days after the tick bite. The general symptoms characteristic of this infection begin sharply and brightly, i.e. the patient can clearly indicate the hour of the beginning of the clinic:

Forms of encephalitis

The target organ of the disease is the brain (see). There are several forms of encephalitis, which have their own clinical features.

• Feverish form

It is diagnosed in 40-50% of cases. Fever, the main symptom of the disease, lasts 5-6 days at a level of 38-40 C. After the temperature drops, the main symptoms disappear, but weakness and lethargy remain for several more weeks. Complications occur very rarely.

• meningeal form

This is 50-60% of cases. It proceeds with severe general intoxication (hyperthermia over 38 C, fever, chills, sweating, high-intensity headache), as well as symptoms of inflammation of the meninges: nausea and vomiting, decreased elasticity of the occipital and cervical muscles (difficulty in trying to bring the chin to the neck), facial asymmetry, dilated pupils. Recovery is long, remission proceeds in a state of weakness and weakness. It is possible to synchronize the process.

• Focal form

The heaviest downstream. Characteristic: high temperature, impaired consciousness with delusions and hallucinations, severe intoxication, convulsions, disorientation in space, impaired breathing and heart function. Most often it becomes chronic.

• Chronic form

It develops within months and even years after the disease. Frequency - 1-3% of cases of the total mass of patients. The patient has a constant twitching of the muscles of the neck, shoulder girdle and face, tendon reflexes and muscle tone in the limbs decrease, the psyche is disturbed, dementia develops.

Borreliosis

This disease occurs with damage to the nervous system, joints, heart, skin, very often becomes chronic. 10-14 days after the bite, the early stage of the disease begins:

Stage of spread of infection (2-3 weeks - 2-3 months after the bite)

Crimean hemorrhagic fever

A severe viral disease transmitted by the bite of Hyaloma ticks. The disease is common in Astrakhan, Rostov and Volgograd regions, Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, Volgograd and regions, Dagestan, Kalmykia, Central Asia, China, in southern Ukraine, in the Crimea.

Symptoms of the disease

• Occur within 2-14 days after the bite.
• The initial period lasts 3-4 days: severe hyperemia, intense headache, body aches, especially in the lower back, severe weakness, vomiting, lack of appetite, dizziness, impaired consciousness.
• During the peak period, there is an abrupt decrease in t - first it falls for 1-1.5 days, then it rises and lasts up to 7 days, after which it falls again. There is a petechial rash on the chest and on the lateral surfaces of the abdomen, bleeding gums, bleeding from the ears and eyes, internal organs, and nose. The condition worsens sharply, blood pressure drops, tachycardia, lethargy, confusion occur. Mortality reaches 25%.
• During the recovery period, which lasts from several months to 1-2 years, a person feels weakness and fatigue, pain in the heart, dizziness and headaches, and a decrease in blood pressure.

What not to do with a tick bite

• Panic. Absurd actions in such a situation are definitely not needed. Remember - not every tick is contagious, but it's too early to relax.
• Remove a tick from the skin with bare hands - there is a risk of the virus entering the body through microcuts in the skin.
• Touch the eyes and mucous membranes with the hands that touched the tick.
• Use oil and other liquids to deprive the tick of oxygen - in this case, the aggressiveness of the tick increases.
• Pressing, sharply pulling out the tick - this contributes to the entry of saliva and gastric contents into the wound. A sharp pulling out of the tick threatens to rupture it - part of the arthropod will remain in the body.

Disease prevention

It is prescribed after examining the extracted tick if it turned out to be infectious.

• Borreliosis - a course of antibiotic therapy, depending on the drug, is carried out within 5-20 days after the bite.
• Tick-borne encephalitis is the management of immunoglobulin obtained from the blood of a person who has had a disease. Very often gives serious allergic reactions. In Europe, immunoglobulin is not used, antiviral treatment is prescribed (iodantipyrin for adults, anaferon for children).

Prevention of tick bites

• Wear tight clothes in light colors when graying forests, parks. Clothing should fit snugly around the wrists and ankles. Tuck your trousers into your boots.
• Wear a tight hat.
• Use special repellents that are applied to clothing or skin: Defi-taiga, Off, Ftalar, etc.
• Do not walk past tall grass and shrubs.
• After visiting the forest, carefully inspect each other, as well as the animals that were with you. If the forest walk is long, inspect each other in an hour, using bright clearings with a minimum of vegetation for this. Pay special attention to the tick's favorite parts of the body.
• Do not bring freshly cut grass, branches into the house - there may be ticks.
• People professionally associated with frequent visits to forests are vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis.
• When going to the forest, take with you everything you need that can be useful when biting a tick. Special kits have been developed: Anti-mite module.