What do bedbug bites look like and how dangerous are they for a child?

The chances of becoming dinner for bed bugs for modern people are quite high - a third of the residents of motels, hotels, hostels and child care institutions suffer from their bites.

A small yellow-brown parasite that feeds on human blood and lives in temperate regions. It is called differently: sofa bug, linen bug or house bug, in fact, it is one and the same bed bug, trying to settle in a person’s home.

general information

The insect is a nocturnal hunter and satisfies its hunger in the dark. Their unique flat body shape allows them to use any crevice, crease or crack in furniture or walls for shelter. The main thing in their behavior is to be closer to sleeping people; bedbugs do not know how to move long distances.

Insects feed by piercing the skin of a sleeping person with transformed jaws fused into a tube. There are two channels inside them - for blood, which the parasite sucks from the victim’s body, and saliva, which contains special anesthetic enzymes that make the bite painless.

The parasite seeks to find capillaries under the victim's skin (it has the ability to sense blood flow), and makes a puncture. At one time, the insect can suck up to 1 ml. blood. To be completely saturated, an adult bug needs up to 7 ml, so it moves along the vessel, biting the skin until it is satiated. The total feeding period is up to 30 minutes.

The sucked blood changes the body of the bug - it becomes larger in size, moves slowly and begins to resemble a cockroach in appearance. The food obtained by the insect is enough for 7-10 days. The larvae of the parasite feed in the same way, but do not know how to produce anesthetic saliva, so their bite feels like a needle prick. The larvae must eat every day.

It has been noticed that bedbugs are selective and do not bite everyone. Most often, women and children are attacked by them - their delicate, smooth skin is easy to bite through. Men whose blood vessels are located close to the surface of the skin are susceptible to bedbug bites.

What does a bedbug bite look like on a child?

It is easy for an inexperienced person to confuse bedbug bites with traces of feeding by other bloodsuckers. After they are punctured for sucking, a scarlet swelling with a mark in the center forms on the skin. The bite bump is very itchy and painful. If the baby is highly sensitive to the bug’s saliva, the diameter of the swelling can reach 5 cm.

Most often, bedbug bites are confused with mosquito bites - bite marks appear in the morning. They can be distinguished by the following characteristics:

• traces of mosquito bites are single, appear only on open areas of the body, bugs feed on the entire surface of the skin;
• mosquito bites are single, after the bugs there are characteristic tracks of red, swollen tubercles;
• if a child has been subjected to multiple attacks by bedbugs, the bites may merge into a large red spot.

A child’s body reacts stronger than an adult’s to specific enzymes in the saliva of a bug, and individual characteristics are important - some children will react to bites violently, with a strong allergic reaction, some children react to traces of parasites only with slight itching.

On average, a swelling on a child’s skin occurs 10-15 minutes after the bite; it quickly begins to itch and swell. If the child is prone to allergies, the space between the punctures will be filled with red pimples, reminiscent of hives. The bite of the larvae can cause inflammation and abscesses.

Temporary protection measures

If it is not possible to relocate your baby, you can temporarily protect him using the following methods:

1. Twigs of wormwood will help scare away bloodsuckers. Place them next to your bed.
2. Place a sachet with mint and cedar oils in the pillow.
3. Keep bed linen in the freezer. Cold temperatures will kill the insect larvae.
4. Try to cover your baby's body as much as possible with pajamas. It's better to put socks on your feet.

Such measures will help reduce the number of bites, but only temporarily. If you find bedbugs in your apartment, you should contact a special service for their destruction. If bites appear after going to kindergarten, report your suspicions to the teachers.

Take your child to a therapist to avoid negative health consequences. If you have problems sleeping, a consultation with a psychologist will help.

Bite symptoms

It can be determined that a child has become the target of a parasite attack by chains of 5-6 swellings; in some children, the bites will resemble small red pimples.

Parents should be concerned about scarlet, extensive bite marks; they indicate the development of an allergic reaction in the child’s body. It can last 7-10 days.

In some cases (with large numbers of bites, attacks by larvae), symptoms of inflammation may appear:

1. body temperature can rise to 38-39 degrees, it can be easily relieved with an appropriate remedy;
2. lymph nodes become swollen and painful;
3. rhinitis and cough appear;
4. the child complains of abdominal pain;
5. diarrhea begins.

Parents often confuse these symptoms with those of a cold or chickenpox. It is important to immediately show the child to a doctor - no one can predict the reaction of the child’s body to large doses of a specific enzyme. Sensitive children react to the excrement, eggs and chitinous coating of bloodsuckers.

It is quite difficult to check whether there are bedbugs in a children's room due to the nocturnal lifestyle of parasites. The fact that bedbugs may be the cause of a child’s poor health can be indicated by the appearance of a new, strange smell in the nursery, which resembles the aroma of sour berries (this is the smell of a lubricant that females secrete when attaching the larva to surfaces).

You can see brown spots on the sheets - this is blood that comes out from wounds on the body after a bite. The enzyme that bedbugs inject into the wound along with saliva prevents blood from clotting. Large brown spots from crushed insects appear on the bed (after feeding, the bugs become clumsy).

If there are a large number of insects, black formations resembling poppy seeds may appear on the child’s bed - these are bedbug excrement. You can see parasites scattering if you suddenly turn on the light in the room between 2 and 4 am.

How to protect a child?

Fleas enter the house from the street, basement, entrance, or attic. Pets and people often bring them into the house along with vegetables and soil. Adults feed on the blood of animals and people. They live in dark, dry places. In the house they hide under the floor, baseboards, cracks in the wall, carpets. The female scatters the larvae while on the animal’s body. Under favorable conditions, within a day a larva appears from there in the form of a worm. They live in soil, animal excrement, and rotting grass. In a house or apartment, flea larvae live near the pet’s sleeping place, toilet, under boxes with vegetables, and flower pots.

To protect your child from bites, you need to get rid of fleas in the house and prevent re-infestation of the room. You can notice which room the parasites live in in the evening. A white sheet of paper is spread on the floor or a lantern is installed. Insects jump on warmth and light. Small, black dots that jump quickly are fleas.

It is necessary to thoroughly clean the house, especially in the room where the parasites were found. Vacuum the carpet, wash the floors with water with the addition of table vinegar or ammonia. Clean up your pet's sleeping area. If this measure does not help, use insectoacaricidal aerosols and sprays. Carefully treat the floor, baseboards, walls at a height of 1.5 m from the floor, and the back side of the furniture. A day later they begin general cleaning of the house.

To prevent infestation of the premises, it is necessary to treat your pet for fleas. To do this, use drops, shampoos, sprays, collars, tablets, etc. Each time while scrubbing the floors, add a few drops of lavender, geranium or vinegar essential oil to the water. Fleas cannot tolerate strong odors.

How dangerous is a bedbug bite for a child?

If a child does not have a significant reaction to an insect bite, parents do not need to worry too much. To correct the situation, you need to try to remove parasites from the nursery using suitable insecticides.

Bedbugs cannot transmit pathogenic infections (hepatitis viruses, HIV, staphylococcus) from person to person - this has been proven by numerous studies.

Parents of a bitten child should pay attention to the fact that the child does not scratch the bite sites - the trapped dirt can provoke the development of abscesses, which are painful, difficult for the child to tolerate and difficult to treat. The child will complain about:

1. itching, pain and burning at the site of the bite;
2. development of local inflammatory reactions on the skin.

The consequence of untimely detection of bedbugs will be sleep disturbances in the child, resulting in irritability, moodiness, and lack of appetite.

One of the consequences of a large number of bites can be the development of anemia in the baby.

How to determine that a child has been bitten by bedbugs

Despite the fact that insect bites in children are generally treated in the same way, in cases of bedbug bites you always need to know exactly what they bit. If you make a mistake and blame everything on mosquitoes, then the child will be doomed to endure bites every night.

Review

I never thought that these parasites could live in my apartment. When the child began to itch, I sinned on everything: allergies, unhealthy diet, kindergarten. Two dermatologists drove us around the offices, they suspected both chickenpox and rubella, but they never said anything concrete. And my son literally couldn’t sleep! But what will a one-year-old child say? I met some bugs in the apartment a couple of times, but I didn’t even suspect that they could be bedbugs. And only a doctor at a paid clinic said for sure that the child was being bitten by insects. And when my husband turned over the blanket in the crib at home, I almost threw up. Then she almost got poisoned while poisoning them with dichlorvos. But now at least I’m calm: this evil spirit is not at home, and the child is sleeping normally.

Alla, Kaliningrad

The main signs of bedbug bites are:

• clearly visible chains of three to five bites each
• bites appear at night or in the morning, almost always in a comfortable bed
• itching but not pain
• the location of the bites is mainly on those parts of the body where there was no clothing during sleep.

It is also useful to read: How does a bed bug bite?

And one more thing: Well, what can I say - Get Total picked bedbugs for 2.5 hours, but still did its job...

The photo clearly shows the tracks of bites:

The bites of other bedbugs are less specific and are more easily confused with the bites of wasps or spiders. However, determining that a bug has bitten another species is not so critical: these insects bite rarely and in exceptional cases.

But it is easier to prevent bedbug bites than to later suffer from treating them in a child. Therefore, finally, here are some tips on how to determine the presence of bedbugs in a room:

• bed bugs smell. In the room where they hide, you can smell a faint smell of sour raspberries or cognac.
• A bedbug accidentally crushed at night leaves brown spots on the bed.
• Before sleeping indoors, you should check the underside of the mattresses on all beds. Usually, if there are bedbugs in the room, then it is on the mattresses that you can find several insects.

If such a check does not reveal the presence of bedbugs, then the child can be left to spend the night here. In the worst case scenario, there will be few bites in the morning.

How to choose the right bedbug extermination service

Allergic reaction

The enzyme that is released into the child's blood when a bug bites is a strong allergen. If the child is hypersensitive, an allergic reaction may develop, the strength of which depends on the individual characteristics of the body. Manifestations of such a reaction may be:

• increased body temperature and fever;
• abdominal pain;
• headache;
• development of mucosal edema;
• irritability;
• itching and burning in the bite area;
• the appearance of edema.

If several symptoms appear at the same time, parents should take the child to the doctor. In some cases, the development of an allergic reaction can occur rapidly and over a short period of time the following may develop:

1. swelling of the mucous membranes and respiratory tract;
2. dyspnea;
3. swelling of facial tissues;
4. dizziness;
5. loss of consciousness;
6. state of shock.

The appearance of at least one of these symptoms should be a reason for the child’s parents to contact a doctor. Delay or self-medication can lead to irreversible consequences.

Allergy symptoms, consequences and complications

In addition to itching and discomfort, the consequences of insect bites can be much more serious. If you scratch a wound, it will most likely get infected.

As a result of infection in the body, the following is found:

• general deterioration;
• body temperature rises;
• scratching the wound causes skin erosion.

One of the consequences is an allergic reaction. Most often this complication occurs in children.

Symptoms of an allergic rash:

• itching;
• causes discomfort;
• the child's body temperature rises;
• weakness appears;
• dizziness.

Bed bugs deprive people of normal sleep and rest. Constant bites are a major factor in stress and decreased productivity. There are known cases of up to 500 bites on the body during the night.

The prolonged presence of bedbugs has other consequences. For example:

• neurosis;
• sleep disorders;
• irritability;
• fear

This is also associated with the development of hysteria and depression. At the first signs of illness, you should consult a doctor.

What to do if a child is bitten by bedbugs?

If a child has become a victim of a bedbug attack, correctly provided first aid will help stop the manifestations of the allergy and prevent further development of its symptoms.

To stabilize the child’s condition, it is necessary to relieve pain from bites and reduce itching. Eliminating these symptoms will help prevent scratching, skin trauma, infection and the development of inflammation.

If the bite marks are single, then cooling the bite area with a piece of ice will help relieve the itching. To relieve more noticeable lesions, you can use a paste of soda - for this, baking soda is diluted with a small amount of water. The paste is applied to the bite sites. One commonly used remedy is to wash the skin at the site of the bite with soapy water.

An infusion of medicinal herbs - a series of tripartite, chamomile and sage will help relieve itching and inflammation with severe itchy bites. A decoction of oak bark helps relieve itching and inflammation in the bite area.

To relieve itching, inflammation and pain, fresh mint leaves, plantain leaves, and mashed dandelion leaves washed with hot water can be used.

Parents should take measures to eliminate parasites from the child’s room - first of all, inspect the child’s bed, change the mattress and bedding.

Medicines

In addition to traditional treatment of bedbug bites, medications and homeopathic remedies can be used to relieve symptoms of itching and inflammation.

One of the most common medications against any insect bites is the drug Fenistil, which is sold in the form of drops or ointments. It can also relieve food allergies.

The drug is applied to the affected areas in a thin layer up to 4 times a day. If the lesion is extensive, then this drug is additionally used orally in the form of drops. For children under 12 months, add up to 10 drops of medicine to juice or a bottle of water, for children under 12 years old - up to 20 drops at least three times a day.

Contraindications for the use of the drug will be:

1. bronchial asthma in a child;
2. lung lesions.

Side effects from taking the medicine:

• sleep disorders;
• headache;
• rash;
• dryness and sore throat.

The medicine in gel form may cause irritation and itching of the skin.

Analogues of the drug are:

• Zyrtec, which acts identically to Fenistil;
• Ketocin, which is suitable for children after six months;
• Dermadrin, which can be used for babies from 24 months.

All medicinal prescriptions must be made by a doctor; only he can choose the appropriate remedy and prescribe the dosage.

Another effective drug for treating insect bites and allergies caused by them is Cetirizine DS. It is used with caution if the child has impaired renal function.

One of the proven drugs is Suprastin. It can also be used on newborns. It is highly effective in treating mild manifestations of allergy to bites and severe angioedema. For breastfed babies, the powdered drug is added to a bottle of juice; older children are given ½ tablet per dose.

In addition to tablets, a solution is used to treat allergies. Contraindications for use include diseases of the respiratory system and manifestations of asthma.

Homeopathic remedies are relatively safe for children. Apis and Ledum are used to treat the consequences of a bite. You need to take the drug for 4-5 days. For external treatment of wounds, you can use an alcohol tincture of marigolds.

Prevention measures

The appearance of bedbugs indoors is not affected by the sanitary condition of the home or the income level of the owners. Insects can be brought into the premises with things purchased second-hand, brought from a business trip or from neighbors.

You can prevent the appearance of insects by:

1. periodic repairs with careful treatment of bedbug breeding sites;
2. preventive treatment of ventilation ducts;
3. treating clothing and furniture purchased second-hand with an appropriate insecticide solution before it enters the apartment;
4. washing of all things brought from a business trip.

The baby's crib should be placed away from walls and furniture. Care must be taken to:

1. the crib was varnished;
2. the legs and bottom were treated with bedbug repellent:
3. the laundry did not hang from its walls;
4. check the mattress and bottom of the crib;
5. check for insects at night.

Simple preventive measures will help avoid bloodsucking attacks on children.

When should you see a doctor?

After insect bites, a child may develop a severe allergic reaction. At the first symptoms, the child should be urgently shown to a doctor or taken to the clinic.

Similar articles:

1. We learn to distinguish a bug bite from the bites of other insects, as well as from allergies and ordinary pimples
2. Are bedbug bites dangerous for an adult, child or pregnant woman? Can insects carry dangerous diseases?
3. Bedbug bites: an allergic reaction of the body of a child and an adult. Symptoms, treatment methods, when it is important to immediately consult a doctor for help
4. What ointments can be used to treat the effects of bedbug bites in adults and children?

Treatment: medications and folk remedies

Correctly provided first aid will reduce the child's sensitivity to the consequences of the bite, so it is important to know what to do in such situations.

If an allergic reaction is minor (mild redness, not severe itching), the damaged area should be washed with cool water and laundry soap or wiped with alcohol. This procedure will prevent bacteria from entering open wounds and will significantly reduce itching.

If a child experiences acute pain, severe skin rash and fever, he should be given an antihistamine. Perfect for these purposes (the age at which you can start using the product is indicated in brackets):

Pills:

• Cortisone (from 6 years);
• Eden (from 12 years old);
• Tsetrin (from 2 years);
• Diazolin (from 2 years);
• Diphenhydramine (from 1 year);
• Tavegil (from 6 years old);
• Fenkarol (from 3 years);
• Zodak (from 1 year);
• Loratadine (from 2 years old).

Gels:

• Fenistil (from 2 months);
• Psilo-balm (from 2 years);
• Rescuer (from 1 year);
• Afloderm (from 7 months);
• Coventol (from 1 year).

Drops:

• Fenistil (from 1 month);
• Suprastin (from 1 month);
• Tsetrin (from 2 years);
• Erius (from 2 years old);

Attention: the use of drugs must be agreed with the attending physician!

In order to bring down the temperature, the child needs to be given an antipyretic and given plenty of fluids to drink:

• Panadol;
• Ibuprofen;
• Paracetamol.

If swelling and temperature do not subside after assistance, you should immediately consult a doctor

Along with medications, folk remedies for bedbug bites can be successfully used for external treatment:

• Decoctions of chamomile, string, sage;
• Paste of baking soda and water;
• Lemon juice;
• Aloe juice;
• Peppermint oil;
• Vietnamese star.

One proven way to get rid of itching is to take a hot shower. It is believed that hot water dulls nerve endings and prevents them from transmitting information about itching to the brain. This simple procedure will relieve you of itching for several hours.

Bed bugs in a kindergarten or school are a common occurrence; it is from these child care institutions that a child often brings this parasite home. Moreover, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a rural school or an elite Moscow kindergarten, everyone is equal before bedbugs. Bloodsuckers do not feed on garbage or dirt, so uncleanliness and poor hygiene do not contribute to their appearance.