A flea bite on a person - how dangerous is it to health?

Types of fleas

In fact, fleas can bite people regardless of their species. It is possible to identify a considerable number of families of parasites, because there are incredibly many of them. Let's look at the characteristics of the species that are found in our country:

Human flea. The human flea, whose bites are painful, is quite common. The brown parasite can jump very high - up to 300 mm. The danger of insects is that they carry plague.
Cat flea. Parasites carry a considerable number of infections. The larvae can live not only on the animal, but also on its bed. Such fleas live up to two years and reproduce quickly.
Dog flea. The parasite is also considered the causative agent of diseases such as plague. This flea lives for more than 1.5 years.
Rat flea. Such insects are recognized as the most dangerous. They carry the most dangerous tapeworm. Fleas are light and dark. Females are able to lay eggs where the rat lives.
Tien Shan flea. It lives in the Tien Shan, and the appearance of the parasite resembles a worm. Fleas are usually active in the winter as they climb onto the livestock's body from the cold ground. Parasites quickly increase in size, because they have enough food for the entire season.
Grass flea. It lives almost everywhere and easily gets into apartments. This parasite has wings, which is how it differs from other types of fleas.

If you are wondering whether dog or cat fleas bite people or not , remember that all parasites are interested in prey. Pet owners often face similar problems.

Parasites can be found in unexpected places. Fleas can bite a person so hard that it is simply impossible not to feel severe pain at the site of the bite. This causes discomfort, because the affected area immediately begins to itch.

How to treat flea bites

Can dog fleas bite a person, and what awaits me if a flea bites me? The answer will depend on whether the insect was a carrier of the infection. If not, then you can get by with a little blood in the literal sense of the word.

The person bitten must take an antihistamine and treat the affected area with an antiseptic solution. Products based on alcohols and organic acids will help out. It is allowed to wipe the inflamed skin with Miramistin or a chlorhexidine solution.

A cold compress will help relieve the burning and soreness. Sulfur ointment perfectly relieves itching and soothes the skin. Regular greenery and iodine can be found in any home and will provide invaluable help. Traditional medicine recipes will tell you how to treat flea bites. A decoction of green tea will eliminate inflammation and speed up skin healing. The soda solution disinfects, soothes, and dries.

Aloe juice has a healing effect. They are used to spot-treat wounds, but only in the absence of allergic reactions. Traditional medicine is dangerous because it can cause skin irritation, which will further aggravate the situation.

“If I’m attacked by pests,” says an experienced veterinarian in the capital, “then hydrocortisone ointment always helps out.” Indeed, this remedy eliminates skin itching, prevents inflammation and hyperemia, and relieves swelling.

What fleas can bite people

Very often, dog fleas bite people on different parts of the body. Such parasites lead in the number of attacks on humans. This is due to the fact that the insect instantly jumps from the dog to the body of people, to clothes and other objects.

The question of whether cat fleas bite people also has a clear answer. The bodies of these animals are inhabited by parasites that feed not only on blood. This means that the question of whether cat fleas can bite humans has been resolved by itself.

Do cat fleas bite people?

In addition to cats, parasites can also feed on the blood of dogs and humans.

However, animals are a much more comfortable environment for arthropods than humans:

Pets are warmer than humans.
Pets have more delicate skin than humans.
Almost bare human skin is not the most convenient surface for parasites to live on.
People often wash themselves by pouring a lot of different hygiene products on themselves. It's a completely different matter, for example, dogs.

Why do fleas bite people - do they lack animal blood? It’s simple, if a flea senses the proximity of a “source” of food nearby, it will not miss the opportunity to feast on it.

Why don't fleas bite everyone?

Parasites may be guided by their tastes and preferences, but all individuals of the human population are subject to attacks, regardless of gender and age. But some may have thinner skin and blood that tastes more flea-like. Many people do not feel bites while sleeping, but this does not mean that the insects for some reason ignored the defenseless victim lying in front of them.

It is not true that insects do not attack men. They attack, and how. Question: “Why do fleas only bite me?” could only be dictated by ignorance of the structural features and behavior of bloodsuckers. Most likely, you just have thinner skin around your ankles . Such people used to be called “blue blood” - blood vessels appear through the skin. The option with “tasty” blood is less likely.

How does a flea bite?

The oral organs of the bloodsucker are quite complex. They look like the thinnest needle, with the help of which the flea gets to the capillary and begins to feed. At this time, the insect finds itself in an upright position for the simple reason that, due to lack of growth, it has to crawl headlong into the skin to get to the bloodstream.

The bloodsucker's saliva contains an enzyme that inhibits the blood clotting process. Piercing the skin by the parasite occurs without pain relief, since the flea is not afraid of mechanical impact due to its flat body and dense chitin. The victim itches, but the parasite doesn't care. This is how fleas bite.

A flea bite resembles a needle prick and is characterized by the following features:

Accompanied by more severe itching and duration compared to mosquito bites.
Most often, bites consist of 2-3 punctures at intervals of 1-2 cm.
The bite in appearance is a swelling with a central point.
On a sleeping person, the area most often affected is the neck and arms , but mostly fleas bite the legs.

Why fleas bite people

This type of insect is considered an obligate parasite. Insects cannot eat anything except human or pet blood. Why do flea bites appear in people who try to avoid contact with insects? This is due to the fact that parasites constantly need nutrition, which allows them to multiply quickly. It is unlikely that an insect that lacks blood will bite a person. Flea bites are difficult to confuse with the effects of other parasites, because they have their own characteristics and signs.

The danger of fleas to humans

The question whether fleas bite people or not has a clear answer - of course, yes. Parasites that live on pets are dangerous. They not only create discomfort with their bites, but also infect people with various diseases. Often a person experiences a severe allergy to those components of the parasite’s saliva that prevent the blood from clotting normally.

The reaction is accompanied by redness of the affected area, as well as itching. Pimples and swelling may also appear. The insect infects open wounds because it carries a variety of viruses that are dangerous to humans.

Why is a flea bite dangerous?

This small insect is not at all harmless and can cause great harm to the body:

Fleas cause a disease in humans called pulicosis, which is a consequence of uncontrolled scratching of bite sites and a feeling of unbearable itching.
A severe allergy to the enzyme used by the flea against blood clotting is also dangerous. This can manifest itself in the form of redness and itching, characteristic rashes on the body, and sometimes significant swelling and even anaphylactic shock.
There is always a risk of infection at the bite site when scratching it.

In addition, fleas can be carriers of:

encephalitis;
hepatitis A;
typhus;
plague;
salmonellosis.

If you have been attacked by fleas, then, despite the pain and very noticeable itching, the bites most often do not require special treatment and after 2-4 days they completely go away on their own. But unfortunately, there are also complications when you can’t do without medical help and seeing a doctor.

First aid for bites

What measures should be taken if you or your household are bitten by fleas?

First, wash the bite area with warm water and antiseptic soap and treat with the following products:

Sulfuric ointment. It can be bought at a pharmacy and used as an antiseptic. Apply the product to the affected area once a day for 10–15 minutes, then wash off the ointment. For children, it is better to buy a product with a lower sulfur content - 5–10%;
baking soda solution. Dissolve one teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water. Soak cloth or gauze in the solution and apply to the wounds;
alcohol tincture of calendula - wipe the bite areas;
antiseptic Boro Plus or Calamine lotion.

And what is sometimes most difficult, especially for children, is that you should never scratch flea bites! This can lead to infection and inflammation.

Why do some people get bitten and others not?

Some people cannot understand why fleas bite some and not others. It has been proven that every person suffers from their influence, but you may not pay attention to flea bites due to the fact that the skin is thick.

Experts say that most often flea bites in people occur in people with the first blood group. Despite this, fleas can also attack those people who have blood groups 3 and 4. Parasites like thin skin, which is easy to bite through and get to the vessels through which blood flows.

If you don’t know what to do if a person is bitten by fleas , remember the need for timely treatment of the affected area. This is the only way to avoid consequences in the form of tumors and pain.

Fleas attacking humans

People are usually bitten by fleas that live on pets. They transfer to humans from the fur of pets. But these species prefer the blood of their primary hosts for the following reasons:

The body temperature of animals is higher than that of humans;
they are covered with fur, where it is easy to hide;
The animal's skin is easier to bite through.

When the host is not around, the hungry parasites attack people.

Human fleas are adapted to live in human homes. Their mouthparts are designed to bite through the skin of humans, although in rare cases they also bite small animals.

These insects do not live on a person constantly, like lice, they attack him, get drunk with blood and leave the body. The rest of the time, parasites live under baseboards, in floor crevices and other secluded places. Their body length reaches 3 mm, which is longer than that of insects living in animal fur.

What does a flea bite look like, treatment

The way a flea bites can be felt immediately. Parasites are different from other insects because their bites cannot be confused with anything else. They are characterized by the following features:

bites are not only double, but also triple;
tracks do not remain on the body, as is the case with domestic bugs;
the puncture is accompanied by an incredibly painful sensation and an unbearable burning sensation;
after a bite, the affected area begins to itch very much;
The bite site swells and causes discomfort.

How to distinguish flea bites from other insects?

The bites of all blood-sucking insects are similar in symptoms and appearance: redness, itching, burning and a desire to scratch the inflamed area. But there are still specific differences. Let's take as an example the most common fellow fleas - bedbugs and mosquitoes.

Traces of flea activity are represented by medium-sized dots that are hard to the touch. The bites of a regular mosquito or bedbug are noticeably smaller. In the first, they are randomly located, like in a flea, and in the second, they line up in a path of 6-10 inflammations.

The flea bites primarily the legs and back, while mosquitoes with bedbugs can attack all parts of the body. The itching from inflammation of other insects does not go away for a long time. While a flea bite stops itching after 2-3 hours. You should also take into account the activity of parasites: bedbugs hunt all year round, mosquitoes prefer summer and autumn, and fleas prefer summer.

The type of bloodsucker can be determined by other atypical symptoms. For example, brown spots on the sheets indicate the activity of bedbugs, buzzing indicates mosquitoes, while a flea acts unnoticed. It is extremely difficult to see it due to its modest dimensions (some types up to 0.5-0.75 mm).

For reference! Unlike other blood-sucking fleas, at the time of the bite, the flea does not secrete pain-relieving enzymes, therefore contact of the parasite with the skin is very painful for humans.

Flea mouthparts

It is represented by a piercing-sucking system, which is a feature of parasites. The mouthparts are represented by three piercing stylets. Together they form a tube, which is located in a kind of case of tentacles. They are attached to the proboscis.

The main component of the proboscis is the stylets, arranged in pairs. These are lacinia, which belong to the lower jaws. The teeth are used to cut through human skin and reach blood vessels. The muscular pump of the foregut allows the parasites to quickly absorb blood.

Now you know how fleas bite , because the features of their oral apparatus are characteristic. The teeth are so sharp that a person experiences sharp pain when bitten.

How do insects bite?

Fleas are blood-sucking parasites that bite animals. They are small in size - up to 5 mm; larger parasites are rare. The insect's distinctive ability is its jumping ability. The parasite jumps to a height of up to 30 cm.

Cat fleas feed only on blood. Their oral apparatus consists of elongated jaws, or proboscis. The insect pierces the skin with it, like a needle, reaches the capillary and sucks blood from it. If the capillary is located deep, the parasite inserts its head and part of the body into the wound.

Unlike other blood-sucking fleas, fleas bite without introducing an anesthetic into the wound. Therefore, the victim immediately notices how painfully the flea bites. Parasites introduce an enzyme with saliva that prevents blood clotting, so it can continue to flow from the wound for some time.

Bites in people in the house from blood-sucking insects are located on certain parts of the body. A flea bites a person only in places where it can jump. Most of the marks remain on the feet and legs. If the victim was on the floor, marks will be on the arms or torso. In young children, marks are visible all over the body.

A flea bite mark is a red spot with a dot in the middle. They are located chaotically, their number depends on the abundance of bloodsuckers. When an insect pierces the skin, it injects its saliva into the wound. This causes allergic reactions and severe itching.

Allergy to flea bite

If fleas bite too hard, a person may experience an allergy, even if symptoms have not previously been observed. During the initial parasite bite, the body produces special components that play the role of antibodies. If saliva enters the human body again, the membranes change, and the cells that contain histamines are activated. Other components that cause allergies are also activated.

If there are flea bites on a person, the symptoms often include itching. This is an unpleasant feeling that is difficult to cope with. Only the skin itches, but the mechanism of occurrence of this phenomenon has not been fully studied by specialists.

Hives may also occur. These are inflammations on the skin that appear as itchy blisters with fluid inside. Hives bring a lot of discomfort because the entire skin itches and burns.

The bite may cause bruising. In addition, flea bites lead to the appearance of large lumps. Lymph nodes may also become enlarged. A person’s reaction to a parasite bite depends only on the characteristics of his body.

The question of how to treat flea bites in humans in case of allergies is complex. Specialist intervention will be required to exclude anaphylactic shock. Thanks to this, flea bites on a person will quickly disappear.

What diseases do fleas carry?

Flea bites on the human body are extremely dangerous because they carry life-threatening diseases. People often suffer from plague, because insects also live on sick pets. If fleas bite, what to do about it needs to be decided urgently.

In addition, fleas can cause dermatitis. This is a very dangerous disease that causes maximum discomfort. That is why meeting such insects is extremely undesirable. You need to know what to do if a person is bitten by fleas in order to quickly help a friend or relative.