What to do if your child is bitten by an insect

Children's skin is relatively delicate, and there are many mosquitoes in the summer. If you do not take protective measures against mosquitoes for your baby when he is outdoors, he will easily be bitten by mosquitoes. No matter what kind of mosquito bites, they need to be treated in time to prevent the baby from scratching the bitten area and ensure the baby's skin health. Here I will introduce to you how to solve the problem of mosquito bites on your baby!

1. Symptoms after mosquito bites

Mosquito bites often cause dermatitis, which is mostly papules or bruises on exposed parts of the body such as the face, earlobes, and limbs. Papulovesicles or blisters may also appear. A pricking point, a dark red bruise the size of a needle, can be found in the center of the lesion. Babies often feel itching, burning or pain, and become irritable and cry. In severe cases, the eyelids, auricles, lips, etc. may be obviously red and swollen, and there may even be fever and local lymph node enlargement. Occasionally, serious reactions such as local blisters and hemorrhagic necrosis may occur due to scratching or allergies.

2. Stop itching

The treatment for general insect bite dermatitis is mainly to relieve itching. It can be treated with insect bite lotion, compound calamine lotion, or commercially available anti-itch and cooling oil and other topical medications.

3. Anti-inflammatory

For children with severe symptoms or secondary infections, antibiotics can be taken orally to reduce inflammation. At the same time, the bitten area should be cleaned and disinfected in time, and an appropriate amount of erythromycin ointment should be applied.

4. Anti-scratching

Parents should supervise their babies to wash their hands, cut their nails short, and be careful to prevent children from scratching bites to prevent secondary infection.

5. Prevent infection

After being bitten by mosquitoes, babies may develop local infection, redness and swelling due to scratching, and some may even have purulent secretions. For children with severe symptoms or secondary infections, give the baby an appropriate amount of oral antibiotics to reduce inflammation. At the same time, clean the bitten area in time and apply erythromycin ointment.

Mosquitoes are the main vectors of Japanese encephalitis and a variety of tropical diseases (such as malaria, filariasis, yellow fever and dengue fever). If your baby is found to have high fever, vomiting, or even convulsions in summer and autumn, you should seek medical attention in time. When using mosquito repellent products, especially mosquito repellents and ointments that come into direct contact with the skin, pay attention to whether there are allergic reactions. Babies with a history of allergies should be more careful.