Managing summer’s crop of itchy red bumps on the skin

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EDUCATION

Managing summer’s crop of itchy red bumps on the skin

Carmen Pope

mosquito CR Jimmy Chan
Mosquito feasting [Image: Jimmy Chan]

Maggie brings her 12-year-old son Hunter into the pharmacy; his legs are covered in bites. The bites are mainly around his ankles, but he has a few in a straight line on his stomach. They have just returned from the Milford Track, but they then stayed with a friend who has a dog, so she is not sure whether the bites are from sandflies, mosquitoes, bedbugs or even fleas. She asks you how you can tell and what you would recommend putting on them as they are very itchy.

While there are a lot of things that can bite or sting you in New Zealand, we are lucky that few cause serious harm and none carry serious disease. On
References

1. Fookes C (Tech Ed). Bites and Stings. Healthcare Handbook 2021–2022. Auckland, NZ: The Health Media Ltd; 2021.

2. Te Ara. Story: Sandflies and mosquitoes. https://bit.ly/34nrCdG

3. Bledsoe A. What Bit Me? Spot These 13 Bug Bites. 23 April 2021. https://bit.ly/3sn7xwa

4. Southern Monitoring Services. Mosquito Information for New Zealand. https://www.smsl.co.nz/Pests/Commonly+Asked+Questions+about+Mosquitoes.html

5. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Which species of mosquito in New Zealand bite? https://bit.ly/3B6s63R

6. Southern Monitoring Services. All About Bedbugs! https://www.smsl.co.nz/Pests/All+About+Bedbugs.html

7. Department of Conservation. Stopping bed bugs in their tracks at Southland huts. 17 November 2021. https://dxcprod.doc.govt.nz

8. Healthline. How to Tell Whether You Were Bitten by a Bedbug or Mosquito. https://www.healthline.com/health/bed-bug-bites-vs-mosquito-bites

9. Jun Yi Wong D. Flea bite. February 2014. https://dermnetnz.org/topics/flea-bite

10. Ministry of Health. Fleas. https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/healthy-living/environmental-health/pests-and-insects/fleas

11. Health Navigator. Insect repellents. https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/medicines/i/insect-repellents/