insect bites in the uk?

Question

my wife recently got bit my a fly of some description and now has a saucer sized welt on her leg.the doc said it was "a normal reaction to an insect bite" which i dont agree with.found out from my chemist that they have issued people with anti biotics with this reaction.the wifes is clearing up slowly with anti allergy tabs.are we 1)becoming more sensative to bites
2)being bitten by foreign/cross bred insects?
3)are the flies and insects harming us with pestacides/chemicals etc they have been exposed to.

im no doctor but to me the normal rection to an insect bite is to swear at it and try to swat it!

anybody out there had similar problems?

Answer 1

Your wife was probably bitten by an assasin bug, and this sounds like a typical reaction to the bite. The problem is that assasin bugs usually feed on carrion and so have a 'dirty' bite; they seem to be having a good year this year and there are more of them around than usual. This fluctuation in populations is also normal; remember 1976 when there was a 'plague' of ladybirds?
Your wife could have been bitten by a horsefly which would have produced a similar reaction, but its more likely that she would have noticed as they are large, noisy and very brightly coloured.
There are no foreign insects or hybrids causing us problems, apart from one import; the asian mosquito which has been introduced in to the East Anglia fens. There it has been a problem for about 20 years and is now known as the fen 'tiger' mosquito because of its striped colour. Its about an inch or so long and again very noticeable.
There are more biting flies around than usual because of the weather. Its unlikely that the pesticides they have been exposed to pose a risk to your health, you'd have to be a bird and eat a lot of insects that had been recently sprayed.

Answer 2

Hi,

Different people react to different extents to insect bites, this can also include different reaction severity's between different insects. It can often depend on if you have been exposed to those types of bites before.

I known some people who swell up in massive welts with mosquito bites but have no reaction to bed bugs. This would be explained more technically by the presence of anti bodies int he victim to the bites which trigger a more severe reaction. With bed bug bites there is no identified injected material and the bite is really just a physical hole in the surface of the skin. This having been said I did meet one person who was actually hospitalised as a result of the reaction she had to bed bug bites.

Reaction times can also vary greatly from person to person and I suspect can be partly as result of the environment you are in, after all the body many be covered in between 2 and 100 bites which are just small holes int he skin.

The best advice is to try and find something that soothes the itches and if you react severely check with your GP about the short term use of anti histamines. It is most important to keep the bitten areas clean and to protect them from secondary infection.

Hope that helps a little, keep an eye on it and see a GP or practise nurse if it does not clear in a few days or shows signs of becoming more aggravated.

David

Answer 3

I am allergic to insect bites. And insects choose to always bite me. What to most people would be a small red spot after an insect bite,i'd end up on anti-biotics.I was stung by a wasp on my foot,i went to the docs,he gave me some cream.Had to go back because i couldnt walk,my leg was swollen to the top of my thigh.
Put pots of mint growing near your door.Flies hate this plant.Get a citronella stick.U'l smell like a lemon,but wont get bit as much

Answer 4

Insect bites (midgees) in Scotland are very bad and I myself have had reactions like that which worsen when itched. In England years ago where I live for a while I never ever got bites similiar but maybe now with the climate changes maybe the midgees are becoming more prevalent in your area.

Answer 5

fortunately have not been bitten much this year, had a really bad mosquito bite in south africa earlier on this year which made a HUGE red mark. But I will say that we seem to be getting more and more mosquitos in the UK and at night before I go to bed I have to kill at least 1. Hope your wifes OK though.

Answer 6

I get bitten by horse flies every summer because there's a field at the end of our garden. I've found that spraying anti septic on it helps. Also, putting ice on it reduces the swelling and numbs it so that you can't feel it thereby reducing the 'itchiness'.

Answer 7

Could have been a horse fly , i got bit and my leg blew up like a balloon, horse flies have always been evil, some people have died after being bitten.

20million people in the UK have allergies, and its getting worse, somethings going wrong, maybe all the pollution.

Answer 8

over the last few days i have been bitting all over never had this problem before like you been to docs and was told i was waisting his time the only relief i have found is to use surgical spirts
i belive that as we are now warmer we have more foreign insects and the docs dont know how to treat

Answer 9

Houseflies don't bite, they suck up material only, this must be some other flying insect.

Answer 10

I've had simialr problems.

It depends on what bit you and how you react to it. "after bite" is pretty good at taking down the itch.

I can't take anti-allergy tabs - i'm allergic to them (yes, really!)