Any help appreciated with this bite please.

[Bodge]

My mates son is in hospital with this bite at the moment. He lives in staffordshire and has not been abroad recently.
It went bad quickly once discovered but he doesn't know when it happened. The hospital are struggling to diagnose what has happened.
My first thought was a tick bite, I reckon the scab on it is from scratching it. I am waiting for more info. They do have a dog (ticks?).

Thanks for any input.

 

[Toddy]

Looks like a classic dirty cleg (horsefly) bite in someone who doesn't do the massive swelling and oedema that some suffer.

It looks really nasty though; I hope they get it sorted out for him pdq.

I smashed a cleg that was lethargically sitting on a warm slab nearly three weeks ago, so they are out.

The only other insect I know of that can leave an itchy raised red lump like that are berry bugs. Their itch is intense and the need to scratch is unbearable.

Chiggers ? Xylaria spoke of their bites being bad too though.

Sorry Bodge, not being of much help here
Best of luck to the lad healing quickly.

M

 

[Leshy]

I'm sorry to hear that the hospital is struggling to diagnose this.

I must admit I've never seen that before .

It's not just the bite, but the "trail" of marks is unnerving.
I'm sorry I can't help with this but
I feel for your mate and for what they must be going through now.
Hope someone here can help , so bump to the top !

I wish them the very best and a swift recovery to the boy!

Just wanted to say that...

Best

 

[Toddy]

We used to call that blood poisoning, but it's now called lymphangitis. Basically it's an infection in a wound (the bite) heading toward the nearest lymph gland…..

I googled lymphangitis and found this site..

http://www.pediatricweb.com/webpost/iframe/WGA_465.asp?tCategoryId=1&tArticleId=659

Clegs I know, I carry an epi pen because of their bites now, but the first cleg bites I got as a child just looked like the one inside the boy's elbow without the red inflammation lines running up his arm.
I admit my bias agin them, I have no idea how the hospital will work out what did bite him because the inflammation and scratching damages the skin even further.

M

 

[Bodge]

Thanks.

Sent from my battle droid.

 

[woodstock]

Looks like a infected horsefly bite he needs antibiotics fast.

 

[santaman2000]

I don't think it's chiggers (red bugs) but I suppose it could be. They don't bite and leave; they burrow under the skin and look like this

 

[Allans865]

I'd second Toddy with a horsefly bite, had plenty of them and this looks very similar.

I take quite a bad reaction to them. This is what mine would look like about 2 days after the bite, and would end up a seeping hole after about 3 or 4 days.

Nasty painful experience from throughout. I hope the young fella is on the mend soon.

Horrible horrible creatures!!

All the best,
Allan


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Bodge]

Horse fly has been ruled out as he didn't feel anything bite him.
He is in hospital on a drip at the moment.

Sent from my battle droid.

 

[Nice65]

Horse fly has been ruled out as he didn't feel anything bite him.
He is in hospital on a drip at the moment.

Sent from my battle droid.

You won't feel a horsefly bite, you could sit and watch the bugger take your blood and not feel a thing.

I suspect it doesn't really matter what it was, his treatment is likely to be the same for any infected bite. Antibiotic drip, antihistamine, possible steroids.

 

[Toddy]

+1 to Nice65's comment.

I don't feel the bites, I do feel the aftermath though.

Sleekit, filthy, silent, grey winged things are clegs. Persistent too in their determination to get the blood.

M

 

[Bodge]

Taks for the input guys.

 

[Nomad64]

+1 to Nice65's comment.

I don't feel the bites, I do feel the aftermath though.

Sleekit, filthy, silent, grey winged things are clegs. Persistent too in their determination to get the blood.

M

You guys must be as hard as nails, I've never had a bad reaction to a horsefly bite (other than the time I hit one with a claw hammer - it was on my thigh at the time!) but IME the bite hurts like hell though once they have bitten they seem to be dumb enough to stay put long enough to get squished - a hammer works very well for this purpose but I really wouldn't recommend it!

http://www.horseflytrap.co.uk/about-horseflies/

Hope the kid gets better quickly.

 

[Toddy]

Ours take off as soon as you swipe at them, then sneak back round you to have another go. I was chuffed I spotted the one sitting on the slabs and got it before the blighter warmed up enough to take off sharpish.

Someone once posted on here that we ought to just let them alone and let them feed (one was spotted on someone's arm) I thought it the stupidist piece of advice I'd ever heard. Squish the blighter and it'll no' breed anymore of them.

M

 

[dwardo]

Could be a bite from anything and then a secondary infection introduced by scratching.

As hard as it is we must resist the urge to rake at it. Slapping, ice, peizo etc if things get bad but avoid the dreaded itch. Hope he heals fast.

 

[Nice65]

Ours take off as soon as you swipe at them, then sneak back round you to have another go

True, they don't leave you alone, just wind round to your back or shoulders, the

sleekit

silent horrors get through a shirt easy. I get a bad reaction when bitten as a result, as do most people. A few years ago I was working in a wet area, clearing powerlines of trees, we suffered badly, turning up at work heavily swollen and feeling crappy. The nearby cattle were literally coated in them and obviously agitated and uncomfortable.

Dunno if it's connected, but even a few mosquito bites come up bad now, the swelling and itching. So, yes, kill them.

 

[Robson Valley]

I feel sorry for that kid with the bite. My biolgist's guess is a dang nasty infection, not just hypersensitivity.

There are plans on the internet for a sort of water-trough horse fly trap. I'll try to find a link.
Somehow baited, the trap will drown hundreds of them. Most local ranches here use them.
Since they're not chemically killed, the birds eat them all when the traps are emptied.

Are we allowed in BCUK to explain the recreational ways of getting rid of horse flies?

 

[Nice65]

I'm most happy to discuss killing horseflies. And mosquitos.

Seen the mozzie laser?

[video=youtube_share;fH_x3kpG8Z4]https://youtu.be/fH_x3kpG8Z4[/video]

I want one of these in my head torch. I'd also like ankle bracelets with this technology.

 

[Robson Valley]

The mozzie laser. Had to turn it off. I'm gonna wet myself laughing.
Northern Canada has a well deserved reputation for mosquitoes.
So bad, that prison inmates don't go running off into the forests in summer.

It is simply not true that our mosquitoes are the size of bats. Not true.

Horse flies.
Metal screen windows, 'OFF' brand insect repellant in pressurized cans is very flammable.
A lighter, a can of OFF and the resulting flame thrower effect makes walkers out of flyers.

Black spruce (Picea nigra) is a small tree of Boreal Forest swamp land.
The needles are all relatively short (1 cm) and have a distinct barb at the base.
Everyone carries a twig in their pocket.

Catch the horse flies alive = very important.
Break off an individual needle from your twig.
Insert the barb into the horse fly posterior and release the insect.
While the scourge can lift the extra weight, the balance as such makes them fly straight up
until they disappear out of sight.

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

With many many millions of mozzies, blackfly, deer fly and other biting bugs up here that machine will have its work cut out.

I can be of not help withwhat caused the reaction in the picture. Luckily we don't get probelms with bites.