Brussels
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posted
I have been bitten these last weeks by something I could not identify. Finally, I think I found out: chiggers!
Chiggers are very tiny mites (you can't see them with naked eyes) that behave a bit like ticks ( they like moist, stay on grass areas).
They usually thrive on hotter months here in Europe and elsewhere.
They'll walk on skin or clothes for hours before 'biting'.
They do not suck blood, nor stay inside your skin. When you see the bites, they are long gone.
They INJECT saliva that makes flesh melt, and then eat the melted flesh. Then they go away.
Chiggers are said to be 'clean' in the US. But they may have pathogens (Asia).
the bites, if not scratched, look like tiny volcanoes: they raise in the middle. It's different from flea or mosquito bites, that are more 'flat'.
Exactly at the top of the mini-volcano, you can get blisters (I did).
I got infected by something this last week. I'm not sure it was from tick bites or from chiggers or from both. But I certainly got infected.
So guys, watch out. Chiggers are easy to get rid off, if you KNEW they were in your body. The problem is that they are so tiny you can't see them.
Once you got some chigger bites, you know the area you have been is infested with chiggers, so you can take some measures, like showering, rubbing your skin often while walking outdoors, and putting all clothes to wash immediately after coming back home.
Here are some articles about chiggers. ---------------------------------------
Travelers to areas in Asia should be made aware that endemic scrub typhus from chigger bites needs to be treated quickly with appropriate antibiotics as untreated infections can lead to poor outlooks (encephalitis, pneumonitis, and death).
A POST FROM SOMEONE WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE GOT INFECTED:
I got four chigger bites after spending less than 5 minutes on a gravel driveway with a little bit of grass growing up in it.
Three of the bites became infected, about 2 inches in diameter, very red with a darker red area and an almost black center.
I was diagnosed with staph infection and put on two antibiotics.
The doctor said if there was more swelling I would have to be hospitalized to have the antibiotics.
Fortunately, one full day after starting the antibiotics there is a slight improvement so I think the hospital can be avoided.
Posts: 6199 | From Brussels | Registered: Oct 2007
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Brussels
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13480
THIS IS ANOTHER POST I FOUND SUGGESTING CHIGGER INFECTION.
I have 23 chigger bites I got from landscaping...didn't even have a wilderness experience.
After the job was completed, I took a hot shower with anti-bacterial soap and cleaned the bites with alcohol.
Within 12 hours of chigger bites, 1 of the bites developed a rip-roaring secondary bacterial infection--swollen, feverish at the bite site, and bright red extending about 2 inches from the bite site.
Within 24 hours, same symptoms were beginning at 4 more bites.
Went to the doctor, who gave me antibiotics.
Anyone else have this experience?
The same thing happened last summer, so this is my second go-round. Learned my lesson: always use deet.
My question is this: when I was a kid, I was covered with chigger bites every summer, but never had an infection.
Now that I'm 48, chiggers send me running to the doctor for antibiotic.
Is this because bacteria have wised up to our use of antibiotics and mutated to be stronger in the 21st Century? What do y'all think?
------------------------- Someone suggested he might have scratched with dirty hands and that was WHY he got infected.
This was his answer:
------------------------
Interestingly, there was no way I could have scratched the bites with dirty hands as I was wearing thick denim jeans.
However, the worst infected areas were right behind my knees on both legs.
and squating down compressed the bites could have irritated them.
Another infected area was at my waist where the waist band rubbed my skin.
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Brussels
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Oh oh... Borrelia in chiggers found in Europe...
Larvae of chigger mites Neotrombicula spp exhibited Borrelia but no Anaplasma infections: a field study including birds from teh Czech Carpathians as hosts of chiggers. 2008
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Brussels
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Member # 13480
Patients usually suffered from acute diffuse encephalomyelitis, encephalopathy, meningitis, or meningoencephalitis.
Regarding the cardiovascular system, myocarditis, vasculitis, pericarditis, and rhythm abnormalities are often seen, but congestive heart failure is rare.
Acute renal failure develops frequently in severe cases but may also occur in mild cases [13,14,61,62,67,69].
The case fatality rate in untreated patients is estimated in appropriately 10%, ranging from 0% to 30% [67].
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