Bedbugs on a person - symptoms, treatment, prevention

Hello! When I was in a children's camp, many years ago, there was one resonant case.

Everyone woke up from the scream of a girl in our room. Something bit her, and she immediately decided that it was a bed bug. A thorough inspection of the bed, and the girl’s skin, did not confirm this assumption.

Then the situation did not repeat, so there could be another insect then. Want to know about the symptoms of bug bites on a person? How not to confuse with the bite of other insects? In the article below I will write down information on these issues in detail.

What look like bites of bugs in humans

Skin lesions with small bed bugs are often confused with mosquito bites, ticks, allergic rashes, or injuries. This for a long time makes it difficult to identify the real cause of unpleasant appearances on the body. In fact, bug bites on a person have specific features that allow them to be identified at a glance.

At first, such traces can be confused with mosquitoes, but there are specific features that help determine the bites of bed bugs:

1. insects leave a track of 3-5 punctures on the skin at the same distance (1-2 cm), which swell and blush in the morning;
2. bites of several bloodsuckers in one place form a large spot with severe irritation;
3. soreness of injured skin.

The volume of damage to the skin depends on the number of insects in the room. Initially, bites can be rare and not cause much discomfort to a person. With an increase in the number of furniture bugs, the number of acne increases, occupying more and more large areas of the body.

When and where insects bite

Eating time for bed bloodsuckers is a deep night or early morning, when a person's sleep is most sound.

Favorite places for bites are open areas of the body:

If the population of blood-sucking parasites is very large, insects can also enter under clothing. Most often this occurs during periods of emergence of new larvae, which, for further development, need to try the blood.

Who is at risk

Women and children fall into the risk group for bedbug bites. This is because they have soft and delicate skin, which is easier to pierce and quickly reach the capillaries.

Only some have sensitivity to such skin lesions (severe irritation, itching, burning, extensive redness that do not go away for weeks), while others tolerate them almost asymptomatically (slightly noticeable bites go away in the evening).

Bite symptoms

Each person has signs of damage to the body by bedbugs in different ways. It depends on the tendency of the body to allergic reactions and increased sensitivity of the epidermis.

The main symptoms include:

In rare cases, skin irritation can cause an allergic reaction. Most often, children of preschool age are exposed to it, but it also occurs in adults.

The most common signs in this case are:

• the appearance of large red spots throughout the body, which are very itchy;
• watery vesicles that, when combed, turn into bleeding wounds and purulent sores;
• severe pain when touching injured places.

With a massive lesion of the skin with home bugs, swelling of the mucous membranes, spasm in the bronchi, loss of consciousness, and even anaphylactic shock can occur.

How to distinguish a bug bite

The bedbug bite differs from skin damage by other insects or from an allergic rash both in external signs and sensations:

Another difference between bedbugs and other skin lesions is that they appear on the body after sleep, as couch or bed parasites feed on blood exclusively at night and indoors. So, if the red itchy marks on the skin appeared during the day and on the street (in nature, on the beach), these are definitely not bed bugs.

Why are bug bites dangerous?

Despite the fact that there are many pathogens of dangerous diseases in the furniture parasite, insects do not infect their source of food - humans. In this regard, bedbugs are absolutely harmless.

At the same time, a bite allergy may occur, which manifests itself:

1. multiple rash that itches and hurts;
2. purulent erosion and inflammation arising from infection when combing acne;
3. an increase in temperature and the spread of red spots on large areas of the body;
4. iron deficiency anemia, which can provoke massive insect bites on a child.

The constant itching of injured places disrupts sleep, a person can not fully relax.

This condition affects the overall well-being, which is manifested by the following symptoms:

In order to avoid the grave consequences that can be caused by bedbug bites, one must not ignore the first traces on the body and start treatment on time.

If, after a night's sleep, a person has a track of red tubercles on his skin, treatment should be started immediately. Therapy may include pharmacy drugs and alternative methods. The main thing is that the methods of combating night parasite are agreed with the doctor.

Medications

The main task of all medicinal substances for bedbugs is to relieve inflammation and itching in an injured place, and also to prevent the development of allergic reactions.

All medicines are aimed at alleviating the condition of a bitten person and preventing dangerous consequences.

Treatment with folk remedies

You can reduce intolerant itching and relieve inflammation using alternative medicine recipes.

Hypericum lotion. In 250 ml of boiling water, brew 1 tsp. with a hill of chopped St. John's wort grass, let it brew until it cools. In a healing fluid, moisten cotton pads and apply to inflamed areas.

Garlic Compresses. Grind a few cloves of garlic until a homogeneous gruel is formed. Apply a small amount to the bite sites for 3-5 minutes. The procedure is repeated 2-3 times a day. The product fights against swelling and redness, disinfects the skin.

Soda solution. Dilute 2 tsp in 250 ml of warm water. soda, mix well. Wipe the injured areas 3-5 times with a ready-made liquid. This method calms the skin and relieves irritation.

If timely detect bedbug marks on the body and begin treatment, the bites pass after 1-2 weeks. Due to the high sensitivity of the skin in children and constant combing, this period may be slightly delayed.

Bed Bite Prevention

To prevent skin punctures by bedbugs, you need to completely get rid of them. This can be done using special chemicals - insecticides. Effective solutions it is important to process all the furniture in the house (beds, sofas, cabinets, armchairs, chairs) - all secluded nooks are favorite places for furniture bugs. Disinfect walls and floor (baseboard, door slots).

It is important to pay attention to things:

• wash all clothes at 90 degrees;
• to clean carpets;
• to wash and iron the sheets.

During disinfection, you need to ventilate the room well - night parasites do not like cold and drafts.

After thorough cleaning and destruction of bloodsuckers, additional preventive measures should be followed.

Bedbugs bite a person a lot of inconvenience. To quickly identify the source of red spots and eliminate unpleasant symptoms, it is important to remember the characteristic features of skin puncture with bed parasites.

A path from acne appears on the body, and the bites themselves occur exclusively after a night's sleep.

The timely detection of such bloodsuckers allows you to quickly deal with redness, itching, inflammation and prevent complications.

How do bedbug bites look and how to treat a person?

There are many types of bugs, but in this article we will consider the specific type of bugs that interfere with sleep at night and lead a normal lifestyle. This type of bedbug is called a bedbug or Cimex lectularius (lat. Cimex lectularius).

Less often, he hides in cracks on the floor, in paintings, watches and books. From the habitats of the bed bug, we turn to the bites of these parasites.

Bedbug bites are not uncommon.Just sometimes, many people confuse the bites of these parasites with the bites of other insects (mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, etc.). Especially confusion occurs when summer is in the yard, and mosquito bites at night become commonplace.

After all, from the bite of a bug and a mosquito remains the same redness and itching on the skin. How then to distinguish them, who bit? Before proceeding to the symptoms, consider the case when the bites of bedbugs are confused with an allergy to something.

Look bites of bugs in humans in this way.

Many people write off redness and itching on the skin that suddenly appeared in the morning for allergies. This is the main problem. Because a person will take medications for allergies, itch and do nothing.

Therefore, in order not to confuse the bites of bedbugs with insect bites, whatever - be a disease (urticaria, for example) or with allergies, we turn to the symptoms.

Symptoms

Indeed, bedbug bites are similar in appearance to many insect bites (especially mosquitoes), but there are still differences. Before we go on to describe these symptoms, we will consider the structure of the proboscis and the way the bug is nourished. Because without this, you and I will not understand many of the features of life and nutrition of these parasites.

Adult Cimex lectularius has two tubules inside the proboscis. When he pierces a person’s skin with a proboscis, he first injects an anesthetic substance (a natural secret) into the blood from one tubule. This substance anesthetizes the place of blood exhaustion and does not allow it to coagulate.

The rest is up to the small. Just use the second tubule to absorb the necessary amount of blood into your body. But it is not enough for him to make one puncture on the skin. He must make 3 to 5 punctures in order to be satisfied. So nature came up.

Let's move on to the symptoms on human skin:

Moreover, the symptoms and obvious signs of bites may vary, depending on the characteristics of the victim's body.

If you are not allergic to insect bites, then there will be redness on the skin without any swelling, pustules and seals. The itching will appear closer to the morning, because the bug starts to eat, as mentioned above, closer to 3 o’clock in the morning and after a few hours the substance that anesthetized the bites will cease to act.

The number of bites in a person depends on the number of bugs that are in the house. If you brought these parasites from work or from a walk with the dog in the park, then most likely there will not be many bites. Because the process of reproduction of these insects has not yet begun and some changes on the skin will not be very noticeable.

But if you came to visit your friend and he has an old bed or some other furniture, it is quite possible that it is crammed with a whole swarm of bed bugs, which are already breeding quite actively and have long been annoying the owner of the house.

Numerous wounds and tumors at the site of bug bites may indicate the presence of allergies in humans. The skin on the ground will swell, the area of ​​the wounds and redness will increase, the pus will ooze out of the wounds, because with severe itching, a person who does not cut his nails and fingers, will introduce an infection that will worsen his health.

Skin irritations from numerous bedbug bites can spread in a perfectly healthy person (who does not have allergies).

The protective function of the skin will cover open wounds with a thin film to prevent new infection, and the whitish contents under it, the accumulation of many dead white blood cells that died, fighting the infection that got on open wounds.

On many sites about bugs it is written that they are carriers of dangerous infectious diseases, such as:

1. smallpox
2. tuberculosis;
3. typhoid fever;
4. anthrax;
5. brucellosis;
6. hepatitis B;
7. plague;
8. malaria etc.

But there are no scientifically proven facts about the disease of specific people with these diseases from the bites of Cimex lectularius.

Also, the myth that bed bugs bite only women and children, due to the fact that they have thin and delicate skin, is not true.

A single bug bite or even several will not give any strong consequences on the human body, even if he is allergic to insect bites. The situation changes in a completely different direction, when the bites of bedbugs in a child or an adult reach tens or hundreds of times the number of punctures on the skin.

From external symptoms on the skin, we turn to the exact signs of bugs in the house.

How to find out whether bugs are found at home?

The main sign of a swarm of bugs in your home is the characteristic smell of cognac or sour raspberries. But this is if there really are a lot of bed bugs.

Check the sheet carefully after staying overnight at the hostel or after an overnight stay. This will prevent the occurrence of bedbugs in your home and prevent the possible consequences of bites on your body.

Possible effects on the body

Basically, numerous bug bites are not so dangerous for the human body if they are not allergic to insect bites. Another thing is when there is an allergy. Then it may arise:

Treatment

Bedbugs in children and adults do not require any special treatment. The effects of these parasite bites go away after three days.

Bedbugs in infants are also not dangerous if there are no allergic reactions. But first aid to alleviate the consequences of bites in the early days is still required.

First of all, you need to remove the itching, which will not allow you to sleep peacefully at night. This will require:

• rinse the combed bite wounds with clean cool water, while using an antibacterial soap, skin lotion or the best option is to wipe the bites with alcohol;
• places of bites are recommended to be treated with a solution of baking soda;
• make a compress of ice and a gauze dressing (it is better to rub ice in places where there is an itch). Do not apply a compress of ice and a gauze dressing for a long time, our goal is to remove the itching, and not to overcool the body of the victim).

Drugs and medicinal plants

If a person has clear signs of an allergy to insect bites, it is necessary to give him an anti-allergenic drug (Diphenhydramine, Cetirizine, Dimetinden). And repeat the same steps as described above.

From home-made medicinal plants, you will need aloe, hypericum, lemon or chamomile juice. If their juice is rubbed into the skin at the site of bites, then the itching will pass over time and the skin irritation will stop.

It helps a lot with bites of not only bed bugs, but also with bites of other insects - Vietnamese ointment made by Zvezdochka. This ointment will not only relieve inflammation at the site of the bug bites, but will also contribute to the rapid regeneration of damaged skin.

List of drugs with a fast-acting effect in acute inflammation and skin lesions:

In case of severe allergic reactions, do not self-medicate, but immediately consult an experienced specialist in order to avoid a total outcome.

Destruction of bugs

Forever remove Cymex lectularius will help you the service for the destruction of parasites in apartments and houses, which will conduct a thorough disinsection of all rooms in your house.

Then in this case, you need to call the parasite exterminator service again and disinsect again until the bed bugs are completely destroyed.

Bedbugs in humans: symptoms and effective treatments

An insect bite has quite unpleasant symptoms, but it is difficult to recognize, since it has its own specific properties. They are dangerous for the human body, they must be treated.

Bed bugs are characterized by a flat oval body shape, which reaches a length of up to 9 mm. The color scheme and the size of the bugs directly depend on the degree of saturation with blood. For example, light brown or brown coloring is characteristic of adults. When the pest is saturated with blood, its color becomes saturated - red or black.

How parasites inflict bites

Each blood-sucking parasite is characterized by its own nutritional characteristics. Bites of bed bugs have a considerable number of differences from other insects. The buccal-sucking type in the form of a jointed proboscis located on the top of the head is inherent in the mouth apparatus of insects, so the bugs use two pairs of jaws to feed.

Bed bugs have two channels for receiving food. The first is needed in order to drain the blood, the second in order to inject saliva into the bite with an analgesic effect.

Due to the length of the trunk, on average about 0.8 mm, the insect is looking for that part of the skin that is close to the blood vessels. Subsequently, one bite, the insect is capable of sucking up to 1.5 μl of blood, while it moves to other areas of the skin and repeats the bite.

In general, the parasite inflicts up to five bites, which are equal to 7 μl of human blood.

Typically, an insect inflicts a bite at night. In the event that you find traces of bites on your body, then in order to avoid a second situation, be extremely careful in the dark.

The main places of bites

In most cases, bug bites can be detected in more exposed areas of the skin. These include:

• face;
• neck
• arms or legs;
• your back.

Symptoms of bedbugs on a human body

It is noteworthy that the symptoms are manifested in each individually, this directly depends on the specifics of the organism. For example, some people may have a considerable amount of unpleasant sensations, while others, such signs will not appear at all.

The main symptoms that provoked a bug bite are as follows:

Remember that an insect bite should never be combed. The consequences can be dangerous. There is a high probability of introducing various infections into the blood.

This is due to the fact that the latter are not able to secrete saliva, which, as a rule, has painkillers.

What are dangerous bites of harmful insects

In general, bites are not extremely dangerous, since they do not have critical consequences. The main symptoms that can cause big health problems are allergic reactions.

No less common symptoms caused by an allergic reaction are the following:

1. erosion of the skin;
2. severe swelling in the bite area;
3. problems of the respiratory tract, muscle cramps in the bronchi - the main signs of the disease;
4. hyperemia, the symptoms of which are overflow of blood vessels in the bite zone;
5. the presence of nausea, fainting.

These signs are extremely dangerous for human life, they must be treated without delay. But, as a rule, such cases are extremely rare.

No less common symptoms are prolonged rashes. They are not dangerous, using the right treatment, getting rid of them will be easy.

Further signs of the disease are life-threatening, because the absence of a healthy sleep significantly reduces the general condition of the body, working capacity, can increase nervousness. It is quite difficult to get rid of the mental barrier, the process involves a long treatment.

If the infection enters the area of ​​the wound, it can fester. In this case, you need to see a doctor who will tell you how to treat the ailment.

First of all, you need to see a dermatologist who will prescribe the necessary treatment for you or give a referral to another specialist, depending on the condition of the skin.

Thus, the appearance of bites should not provoke confusion and panic, but at the same time you need to get rid of them as quickly as possible, without expecting an exacerbation.

How to treat insect bites

To date, there is no specialized treatment for bites from such pests, due to the fact that the consequences can be dangerous in extreme cases, on average, the symptoms of the disease disappear within 12 hours.In case of an allergic reaction - up to three days.

If you have a need to get rid of the pain associated with bedbugs, then use the following methods:

If you notice a discharge of yellow or green in the wound area, then it is likely that an infection is brought into it. In this case, you should not try to get rid of the disease yourself, you can harm yourself. The best solution would be a trip to a medical professional.

Alternative medicine is also able to tell victims of bites how to properly treat such an ailment. The following methods are proposed:

• treat the affected area with aloe juice or plantain leaves;
• smear the bite with a pink lotion, it will effectively dry the wound;
• smear with garlic, which must first be grated;
• apply potatoes to the wound.

Thus, there are a considerable number of effective methods that will help get rid of such unpleasant bites of bedbugs.

How long do wound marks last. This is a fairly relevant issue among those people who have already gotten rid of the bites of harmful insects.

As a rule, getting rid of reddened and itchy spots, which are a sign of a bite, marks remain on the skin. Often, after two days, the remains of the spots disappear, and your skin will be able to regain its former appearance.

What protection is effective?

Predicting or preventing insect bites is an impossible task. The best option is to get rid of bugs, otherwise they will constantly harm you.

First of all, you need to move the bed, move it away from the walls and from other objects or interior elements. After that, you need to shake the bedding, mattress and conduct a thorough inspection. You must exclude the presence of both the insects themselves and their larvae.

Particular attention should be paid to the pillow. Carefully inspect each of its seams. In the event that it has a long service life, it is better to replace it with a new one. As an alternative, you can give it for restoration to a specialized organization.

After the procedures, when it is time to cover the new bedding, do it in such a way that it does not touch the floor. This will be another guarantee of your safety.

In most cases, the implementation of such a guide helps to get rid of bed bugs in bed, but there is no guarantee that they will not return again.

The most effective way to get rid of bedbugs not only from your bed, but also from the living space as a whole is to call a professional from the pest control service. Such a specialist will help you forget about bed bugs in your apartment, like a nightmare and never remember them again.

How to recognize bug bites on a person

Bedbugs are an extensive suborder of Hemoptera insects, numbering more than 40,000 species. These are pests that feed on human blood, animal blood, or suck nutrients from plants.

Some species of half-winged, dangerous for humans, can be found in areas with a temperate climate:

• Water bug (Nepa cinerea) - a small insect with a body about 12-25 mm in length, outwardly very much like a land scorpion (hence the name "water scorpion"). It lives in freshwater bodies of water - flat rivers, lakes, ponds. A water bug does not feed on human blood, but when it senses danger, it can bite very painfully.
• Water wasp or smoothies - another river inhabitant belonging to the suborder of bugs. Like a water scorpion, smoothies bite for self-defense.
• Predators (Reduviidae) - bugs that live in the grass, on shrubs and trees, as well as in agricultural buildings. This is a transitional species of half-winged - from predators feeding on other insects to parasites that suck the blood of warm-blooded animals and humans.

The variety of species is huge. The most famous representative of parasites, living for centuries side by side with humans, is a bed bug.

What do bed bugs look like?

Cimex lectularius - a small parasite, 2-8 mm long, with a flattened body. Color varies from dirty yellow to dark brown. The color changes depending on the filling of the insect’s abdomen with the victim’s blood. On the head you can see a small proboscis, it is they who the bug pierces the skin.

Larvae also feed on blood, only they do not secrete saliva with an anesthetic.

An insect can drink up to 7 μl of blood in one night. This amount will be enough for him for 7-10 days of a well-fed passive existence. But since bedbugs live in large colonies in apartments, a person does not have to rely on a quiet sleep. Anyway, up to 500 traces of the “night feast” will appear every morning.

Visually detecting insects at home is quite difficult. During the day they hide in mattresses, carpets, under the upholstery of upholstered furniture and leave their shelter only after dark. Usually a person learns about the invasion of bedbugs, only after discovering their bites on themselves after sleeping.

Interesting fact. From human blood in the body of the bug, for 90 days after the bite, DNA can be isolated. This feature is often used in forensics.

Features of bedbug bites

It is not difficult to determine a bug bite on the body, the traces have characteristic signs:

From the attack of fleas or mosquitoes, the bites of bed bugs on the human body are massive. While the insect finds a suitable capillary, it will make 6-7 punctures, while fleas and mosquitoes leave single blisters.

The consequences of a bug attack can be confused with chickenpox, during which similar itchy spots appear on the body. The size of insect bites is about the same, only without a papule with a clear liquid in the center.

Bed bugs and allergies

Sometimes traces of parasitism of bloodsuckers on human skin are mistaken for manifestations of dermatitis. But if you look closely, the differences will be noticeable.

An allergy can bother a person for several weeks, causing tangible discomfort. You can alleviate the condition with the help of oral and local antihistamines.

What could be the consequences of bites of night bloodsuckers?

Unlike malaria mosquitoes, triatoms and other blood-sucking insects that are carriers of dangerous diseases, bed bugs in this regard are absolutely harmless.

It has been established that the HIV virus, hepatitis and others that are transmitted with blood die when they come into contact with the saliva of the bug. In addition, saliva are injected and blood is sucked out by the insect through two unconnected channels, their mixing is impossible.

Unpleasant consequences can be:

• Inflammation in the localization of punctures on the skin.
• Allergic reactions of varying severity, in some cases, Quincke's edema may develop.
• General deterioration of health.
• Hyperthermia of the affected area of ​​the body.
• The development of iron deficiency anemia.

If there are any changes in the state of health, you must definitely consult an entomologist or infectious disease specialist. A specialist will be able to accurately determine the type of parasite and help you choose an effective treatment.

Who is the tastiest?

Parasites are very selective about the source of food. And it's not a blood type or a specific smell of the human body, but the thickness of the skin. Home bugs willingly bite children and women whose skin is thin and delicate. If there is a child in the house, bloodsuckers may not pay attention to adults at all.

In men, the skin is rougher, bed bugs have to find the most delicate parts of the body (inguinal region, zone under the knees, inner side of the thigh). Although if there is nothing more, in a couple of nights the man will be completely bitten.

Pets, mainly cats, can also be affected by bedbugs. This happens in cases when a person leaves an infected apartment for a long time - goes on vacation or on a business trip. It is difficult for bloodsuckers to get through the animal’s hair, to bite through a dense epidermis, but starved insects are occasionally capable of such a thing.

How to treat bites?

If you notice in the morning that the bites of bedbugs appear on the body, you must immediately take measures:

Bedbugs have been terrorizing people for centuries. Our ancestors learned to alleviate the condition after bites by folk remedies:

1. fresh mint leaves are kneaded into a pulp, which is applied to affected areas of the skin;
2. flowers, stems and leaves of dandelion are crushed, laid in a gauze bag and bandaged to the body;
3. often wipe bite marks with a sponge dipped in warm water or chamomile broth;
4. well relieves pain and swelling of garlic juice. It is applied to the blisters with a cotton swab and allowed to dry;
5. gruel from parsley leaves is an excellent tool that is available to everyone. It helps relieve inflammation, relieves itching;
6. Fresh leaves of bird cherry and plantain also have healing properties. They are applied to the bite for 2-3 hours, and then the skin is washed with a weak solution of baking soda.

If bedbugs have bitten a child, you need to treat the blisters with laundry soap or toothpaste. To prevent combing, an aqueous solution of ammonia has proven itself well. Dissolve a few drops in a spoon of water and wipe the bite with this tool.

But the effect of any treatment will be short-term, if you do not remove all adult individuals and their larvae from the house.

Where do they come from?

Bed bugs can live in any home, regardless of the cleanliness and social status of its owners. Many world-famous hotels still suffer from the periodic invasion of "uninvited guests", to say nothing of budget hostels or hotels.

Often people, without noticing it, bring insects from trips. They easily hide among things, as well as in the seams of suitcases and travel bags. Once in a new home, parasites multiply rapidly, it becomes difficult to get rid of them.

Buying used upholstered furniture is the most common way to infect an apartment with bugs. If such a sofa gets into an apartment building, then soon all the neighbors will suffer from bloodsuckers.

Small flat bed bugs find the smallest gaps, run from apartment to apartment for ventilation, through outlets and other communications. It is difficult to get rid of them, so it is better to contact professional pest control.

Methods of dealing with bed bugs

If you contact the companies involved in the persecution of insects, there is no way, then you can try to neutralize the parasites yourself.

There are several general rules:

It is difficult to frighten parasites with bouquets of tansy and dichlorvos, they will immediately return, as soon as the smell unpleasant for them disappears.

The most effective method of controlling parasites is the use of insecticidal fluids:

• Emulsions are concentrated chemical compounds in the form of solutions based on alcohol or water. Dilute before use according to the instructions. Most popular: Clean House, Cucaracha, Karbofos, Averfos, Taran.
• Encapsulated products are insecticides in which the active components are enclosed in thin capsules. In the process of diffusion, substances are released and begin to work. The disadvantage of such funds is a long activation period (up to a month). But they are safe for people and animals. Popular brands: Effective Ultra, min-22.

Bed bugs in an apartment is a serious problem, which must be dealt with by any possible means. If everything is left to chance, then soon the house will turn into a klopovnik, and the only way to live without insects will be moving.

But here there remains a high probability that pests will also move into new apartments with things. Therefore, having hardly suspected the "occupiers" in their bedroom, it is advisable to turn to professionals.