insect bites

Insect bites: description

Insect bites occur especially in the summer months, when people are outside and it is warm enough for the insects. However, you can get itchy mosquito bites even in the winter months, when the weather is very mild and mosquitoes hatch from their eggs. Incidentally, mosquitoes usually prefer dusk or night, while many other insects such as wasps and bees are especially active during the day.

Insect bites: importance for medicine

In medicine, insect bites are important because they can transmit diseases or toxins and allergic reactions can be triggered. As a rule, no diseases are transmitted in Central Europe in an insect bite. However, wasp sting, bee sting and hornet sting can be very dangerous and even fatal in insect venom allergy or in a sting in the oropharynx. Mosquito bites and brake bites, on the other hand, are considered harmless, if annoying.

The transmission of insect bites is mainly due to mosquitoes worldwide. There are several types of mosquitoes in which various pathogens survive. These include, for example, in the tropics the causative agents of malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever. Stings of the tsetse fly or sand fly in the tropics can trigger sleeping sickness or leishmaniasis.

Insect bites: symptoms

Wasp stings, bee stings and hornet stings often cause pain, while mosquito bites itch. Generally one can distinguish three stages of an insect sting reaction:

• Local reaction with redness, swelling and itching, which is significantly less within 24 hours. The affected skin area is not larger than ten inches.
• Great local response that affects a larger area of ​​skin than the simple local response. In addition, swelling of the surrounding joints, dizziness and nausea are possible.
• An allergic reaction to insect venom allergy, which can lead to shortness of breath and can be life-threatening.

Insect bites: swelling

Everything you need to know about swelling in insect bites, see insect bites: Swelling.

Insect bites: inflammation

Everything you need to know about inflamed insect bites can be found in the insect bite: Inflammation.

Insect bites in the mouth and throat

Insect bites in the mouth and throat can be life-threatening. The mucous membrane may swell and narrow or block the airways. There is danger of suffocation! This is how you can detect insect stings in the mouth and throat:

• sudden pain in the mouth after eating or drinking
• rapid swelling of the lips and / or tongue
• possibly whistling or snorkeling breath noise
• difficulty in breathing

Insect bites: causes and risk factors

Insects sting humans because they either need the blood as food or defend themselves. The reason for the symptoms at the injection site (swelling, redness, itching) are inflammatory substances in the saliva of insects such as biogenic amines and kinins. They affect the muscles of blood vessels and the surrounding tissue. In this way, they trigger an inflammatory response, which in most cases is limited to the environment of the sting.

In bees, a sting with a poisonous bladder remains in the wound. After the sting, the bee dies. Wasps, however, can stab several times. About alarm fragrances they can also attract more conspecifics. Wasps can also carry off bacteria that lead to inflammation of the puncture site.

If you have been stung by a particular insect in the past, it is possible that an insect venom allergy has developed. Then your immune system reacts increasingly to the poison. The reaction can then spread to the entire body.

Insect bites: examinations and diagnosis

Usually insect bites are harmless and you do not have to see a doctor. However, if you feel bad after an insect bite or get a fever, you should go to your family doctor. The same applies if the reaction spreads to the sting or there is an infected insect bite. If a severe allergic reaction or shortness of breath develops, notify the ambulance immediately!

If you are with your family doctor, he first asks you in detail about your medical history (medical history). He will ask you the following questions:

• When were you stung?
• Which animal were you stung from?
• Do you have fever?
• Have you ever been allergic to insect bites in the past?

He then examines the insect bite. He looks at him closely and pays attention, among other things, whether pus is visible at the injection site. He also examines the lymph nodes and joints that are near the sting. He pays attention to possible swelling.

If your doctor fears that the insect bite has transmitted pathogens, he will give you blood. This is subsequently examined in the laboratory for the corresponding pathogens.

Insect bites: treatment

What you can do to prevent insect bites, read Treating insect bites.

Insect bites: home remedies

Which home remedy for insect bites help, see home remedies for insect bites.

Insect bites: disease course and prognosis

In Central Europe, most insect bites are harmless. If you are not allergic to insect venom, bee sting, wasp sting, hornet sting, bumblebee bite and mosquito bite heal without consequences after a few days. Rarely, there are more pronounced reactions that need a little more time for recovery. Even a brake stitch often heals a bit slower. This is because the brake leaves a larger lesion in the skin than the other insects.

In people who are allergic to an insecticide, an insect bite can cause very severe symptoms and even fatal. Therefore, it is important to call the emergency doctor immediately and give first aid at any suspicion of insect venom allergy!

In other regions of the world, insect bites transmit diseases that can sometimes be lengthy and fatal.

Insect bites: How to protect yourself

You can reduce the risk of mosquito bites and other insect bites by wearing bright clothing – insects are usually attracted to dark clothing. You should also wear long sleeves and long pants. Be careful not to walk barefoot across meadows and forest floor. You could accidentally step into an insect and be stung.

Clothing and skin can be sprayed or creamed with so-called repellents. Insects locate their prey via their sense of smell. The repellents change the smell of a human so that the insects can no longer recognize him or her. The substances only work on the skin for a few hours. If you impregnate clothes or mosquito nets with them, the effect may last for months. Repellents include the following substances that you can buy at the pharmacy:

• Diethylbenzamide (DEET)
• Icaridin
• dimethyl
• permethrin

When using Repellents, always follow the instructions for use! They can lead to poisoning, especially in infants and children.

If you travel in malaria areas, use mosquito nets that stretch over your bed. Make sure there are no cracks in it and close the nets with your mattress.

If you plan to spend more time outdoors, do not use perfumes or other cosmetics such as deodorant spray or body lotions that have a strong odor – the smell is an invitation to insect bites (especially mosquito bites).

You can prevent tents when you are not setting up your tent in close proximity to stagnant water. Because mosquitoes are very much there.

Be sure to cover food whenever you eat and drink outside. Especially wasps, but also other insects are attracted by the scent of the food. In addition, you may accidentally swallow an insect that was in your drink or food. Should it then stab in the mouth or throat, the resulting swelling can cause a dangerous shortness of breath.

If you discover a wasp nest at your place of residence (for example, on a sloping roof), you should call the fire brigade to have the nest removed. Stay away from the nest until then, and avoid hasty movements in its surroundings (such as beating your arms to drive off the insects) – this only makes the animals aggressive. In addition to wasps, bees behave extremely aggressively at their nest.

insect bites can not be prevented – as often assumed – by taking vitamin B6. Whether ultrasound mosquitoes provide protection is controversial.