Vexatious and Annoying Flea Bites
Flea bites are caused by a flea which is a blood-sucking insect. This insect is capable of leaping from 14 to 16 inches high. A flea usually feeds on an animal. Which can be a dog, a cat or a rat; even humans have fleas too. A dog flea has a scientific name of Ctenocephalides canis, for cats it’s Ctenocephalides felis and for those fleas found in humans they are called Pulex irritans.
A female flea can lay its eggs prior to their first meal of fresh blood within 48 hours and just for a matter of days this female flea will lay as many 200 eggs. The eggs are oval-shaped and light-colored and once they are hatched the larvae are capable of cocooning themselves. Footsteps, a knock on a wall or any kind of vibration are signals for the adult fleas to come out of their cocoon.
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Even for a few months adult fleas are capable of surviving without feeding at all. These fleas are equipped with saw-like jaws that cut through our skin, which are usually the accessible and exposed part of our body such as arms, legs and feet. The saliva of a flea has anticoagulant that encourages the blood once the skin has been cut to keep on flowing.
Flea bites are usually characterized by a rash in a specific area with tiny bumps and accompanied by severe |
itching.Complications may occur and very common when the bites are scratched and sometimes it can cause hives.
The common treatments for
flea bites are using anesthetic creams such as calamine lotion and other anti-itching creams that will relieve the itching. One percent hydrocortisone creams can be bought over-the-counter without the need of a prescription; this is very good for relieving the itchiness of flee bites. Keep it clean and to reduce the infection, wash it with an antiseptic soap. If it’s accompanied by swelling you can apply some ice pack from time to time to relieve the inflammation.
With the wide range of warm-blooded hosts that includes dogs, cats, chicken, mice, rabbit, squirrels and rats; fleas are vectors of diseases which can be very dangerous to the human population. Bubonic plague, hymenolepiasis and murine typhus are diseases which are caused by bacteria and can be transmitted to humans through the bites of these insects. Flea bites can also lead to frequent scratching that will result to hair loss and in extreme cases may even lead to anemia.
Flea bites can be a big nuisance in one’s life but they are still treatable; but you have to break the cycle especially if you are being bitten very often. You have to start insecticide treatment on home, on your pets and including outside surroundings of your house. Flea collars for your pets and fogging your homes from fleas are not very effective at all times. Remember to salvage your pet fish or your pet bird, put them on a safe place before you do the insecticide spraying. Professional extermination committees must be called in once your house treatment procedures proved to be ineffective.
